The X Crisis
by Raizen Yusuke
Summary: The mutant terrorist Magneto and his followers, the Acolytes, attack a military base and steal nuclear missiles from the U.S. government. As a result human and mutant hostilities have increased. A war between U.S. and Genosha is threatening to rise. In order to avoid a war the president calls the Avengers and X-Men to capture Magneto.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set after the final episode of Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It is set after a week after it. Avengers saved the world from Galactus, but the world keeps spinning. It's back to business as usual. The world just can't stay out of danger.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or the X-Men. All the characters belong to Marvel.**

* * *

It looked like they were in for another boring night. When he enlisted in the army he expected to go overseas, see the world, defend his country from enemies of freedom, make his family proud, and all that jazz. Instead he was a glorified security guard at a military base. All that training to be the best of the best and he was standing guard on his home soil, in one of the most fortified bases in the country. Frankly anyone who tried to break into the base was an idiot. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of idiots around.

"This is so boring," he groaned. He heard his partner snort. His partner was middle-aged and started graying early, tainting his dark brown hair. He was blessed with large physique with muscles hard enough to make coins bounce off of them. He wore the uniform pretty damn good.

"Will you shut up about being bored already, Gordon," he groaned. Kids were the worst. They always thought being in the army was just like the movies. They wanted to chase terrorists, foil villains' plots, and hook up with exotic women. In all his years of service that was one constant he found in these kids. The minute they saw real action they nearly soiled themselves on the spot. Gordon was no different. He was another hot shot kid who thought he was the protagonist in an action movie.

Gordon was a short kid who stuck out his chest and proudly showed off the stubble on his face. He had short chestnut hair. Thanks to his training his small structure was accented by muscles.

"Come on, old man. You can't tell me you find this assignment exciting." Gordon shuddered as if he described some dreadfully disgusting task.

He rolled eyes at his young partner's immature antics. "It doesn't matter if you find this assignment exciting. We have our duties and right now that is to stand guard at this base. In case you haven't figured that out yet kid that means we suck it up and do our duty."

Gordon let out an overly loud and overly annoying yawn. God he wanted to strangle this kid sometimes. "I'm sorry did you say something, Vic? I couldn't hear you over all this," he waved his arm across the empty room. "So much is just going on."

"Newsflash kid just because you aren't getting shot at doesn't make this job any less important. You should know this," Vic lectured.

Gordon wasn't in the mood to listen to another drawn out and droll lecture. "Ok, ok, I get it, Vic. Guarding this base is important too. It's just when I signed up I was hoping for something with a little more action. We could use a little more excitement to liven things up down here. I wish someone would try to break in here."

A blaring sound echoed throughout the room so loudly that it split eardrums throughout the base. The two men readied their rifles at the entrance. "Looks like you'll get your wish, kid."

"I guess I did," Gordon added with a smirk. There was only one way into the main facility and that was through them. They were guaranteed some action. He was itching for action. The pattering of footsteps could be heard. Gordon thought he would really have to thank the idiot or idiots who pulled this stunt. He hoped it was idiots as in plural. When the doors were pushed open he found himself disappointed.

A single man walked out. Sure he was enormous. In fact he was sure this guy could put some football players to shame with his bulk, but he wearing a ridiculous getup. Who wore red and yellow spandex with matching wrist bands? Generally the guy looked clueless. He had a farm boy aura to him that offset his huge size. The kicker was he was unarmed! So much for killing boredom he thought.

"Stop!" ordered Vic. The towering farm boy didn't stop of course. "I said stop!" This time the man obeyed. "Good. Now get on the ground." The man didn't comply with this request. "I won't repeat myself again," Vic warned.

The man spoke, "I am sorry, but it is you who should get on the ground."

Gordon had to stifle back a laugh. "Look guy I know you tower over us and have muscles to spare, but think about this for a moment. You break into a military base unarmed. You aren't in any position to be giving out demands."

"Please just get down on the ground," the man pleaded.

The two guards exchanged baffled looks. "We're not playing around here. Get down on the ground now!" The intruder sighed and started to walk forward. "Get down!" Vic continued. The man kept walking toward them. He tried again, but the man refused to heed him. With no options left they had no choice Vic opened fire. He expected the man to go down after getting shot in the shoulder, but that's not what happened. He saw flesh turn into metal. The bullet bounced right off the intruder's newly metalized shoulder. "What the hell?"

"We've got a code blue!" Gordon shouted. He and Vic shot at the metal man. Bullets had no effect. They bounce off him harmlessly. The metal man yanked their rifles out of their hands.

"I am truly sorry for this, but you left me with no choice." The metal man effortlessly lifted up both men. Their fear was palpable, but he didn't let it get to him. He threw both of them against the wall roughly. The impact had knocked both of them unconscious. "You really should have taken me up on my offer," he said.

The military base found itself under siege. Chaos had reigned. Soldiers were in frenzy. Their invaders struck without warning. The enemy kept them divided and off balance. A group of soldiers rushed to the corridor only to be engulfed in flames. Their screams were music to the cackling flame throwing man. He wouldn't stop until his heart found content with burning every last soldier he set eyes on.

In another corridor the soldiers were stalked by something they couldn't even describe. It was reptilian in nature. It pounced and dragged soldiers down and pulled them off into the shadows where they could only hear blood churning screams. It wasn't the only animal to hunt them down. A savage animal that was more primal than man slashed anything he could get his razor sharp claws in, throats, stomachs, whatever he could touch he was fine. Within minutes the entire military facility was on its knees. Its occupants were either wounded or dead, except for a small band of soldiers. They made a choice to make their final stand right outside of the bunker where the missiles stationed.

"What do we do, colonel?"

"We make our final stand here. They won't even set a foot in here!"

"Yes sir!" they hollered in unison. Each of them raised their rifles. If they went down they would go down fighting. Fingers went to the triggers not wanting to give these monsters a chance to fight back. Suddenly every gun in the room was ripped out of their hands by an invisible force. Rifles floated in the air out of reach. The soldiers were puzzled and fearful at what was going on before their eyes.

"In my experience men with guns tend to make very poor decisions. I can't have that now." Two men came into view. One man dressed in form fitting red that revealed his slim yet muscular form. He wore a red helmet and a long elegant royal purple cape. The most unusual trait was the fact that he was levitating a few feet off the ground. The second man dressed in black form fitting material. He too wore a cape, except his was red. His chest had two red large strips run down from his shoulders until the connected on his lower abdomen, giving it a V shape. He wore red gloves and red boots. On top of his head rested a gold ring. He had long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail.

"It's really him!" cried a soldier.

"Magneto," the colonel said under his breath.

Magneto floated closer to the colonel. "If you would be so kind as to step aside I will be on my way and you can go unharmed." Predictably the soldiers remained stationed where they were.

"Forget it, Magneto. We won't step aside for you. We knew the risk when we enlisted. We won't back down from any terrorist, not even the mutant ones."

The second man was outraged at the colonel's act of defiance. "How dare you speak to the Great Magneto with such insolence you under developed homo-sapien! He offers you mercy and you spit in his face." Before his tirade could continue he was stopped by his master.

"That is enough, Cortez." The master of magnetism groaned. "Then we shall do this the hard way." The mutant super villain willed the metal doors off their hinges. The soldiers were left in horror induced awe. With the mere gesture of his left hand several missiles came rushing toward him before he stopped them in midair. "You see, Cortez. We have what we came for. There was nothing they could do to stop us. We should try to avoid violence when we can."

"As always your wisdom speaks true, Great Magneto." Cortez bowed before his master. Without warning the colonel charged at them, but Cortez tackled the colonel before he could reach Magneto. He started to punch the colonel with unrestrained fury. "How dare you try to touch the great one with your primitive hands! Human filth! Learn your place!" He continued to attack and attack until the colonel lost consciousness.

The soldiers rushed to their colonel's side. Before they could reach Cortez their own rifles were pointed at them. Quickly they were frozen in place.

"That is enough," Magneto commanded. "I've stomached your stupidity enough for one night," he told soldiers. Why did they always test him? Did they not realize how foolish it was for sheep to challenge a wolf? They tested his patience.

"Do you see how ungrateful they are, master? You spared their lives and they continue to oppose you, to fight you. It is within their nature to cause conflict." He didn't need Cortez to tell him that. He had witnessed more than his fair share of human atrocities. They were cruel and more vicious than any beast. Beasts killed for a reason rather it be hunger or survival. Humans could kill for no reason at all. "If we leave them alive they will think we're weak." Those words rang more true than he would ever have liked to believe. Every time he tried to show them mercy, every time he tried Charles' way he always regretted it. That was how he lost his beautiful Magda to those bastards he had spared long ago. He had done so at her insistence and all it did was ensure her death. His beautiful Magda was stolen from him. Her kindness was rewarded with brutality. Why would this time be any different? "If we are to survive we must fight fire with fire. We must be just as ruthless, master." His mind was made.

The rifles were all cocked. The soldiers were startled. Cortez looked on with glee. "I've been at the mercy of humans my whole life. If there is one thing that I've learned is that they have no mercy. I will not be merciful either." With a gesture the refiles fired. The room was filled with the men's screams. Magneto was unfazed and unmoved by the terror induced screams. Kindness would be rewarded with cruelty. He couldn't afford to be kind. He hardened his heart. He became cold. The lifeless bodies littered the room and felt nothing, because he had to feel nothing.

"Well done, my master," Cortez praised. He didn't bother trying to contain his visible delight at the sight of dead men before him.

"It is as you say, Cortez. We cannot afford to be merciful in this war. That is why we need these as insurance," his gaze went to the missiles, "Have the Acolytes regroup as soon as they deal with the rest of soldiers. We don't need the military on our heels yet."

"My liege in order to ensure our escape and no military retaliation this soon it would be better for us to eliminate everyone in the facility."

Cortez's blood lust was troublesome. He never shied away from killing before, but it was with purpose. Cortez seemed willing to issue death for the slightest of reasons. Killing without purpose was beneath them. Did Cortez have a point in this instance though? Magneto was feeling his age more and more recently. Now was not the time for mercy. Mercy in war would be taken advantage of. He needed to remain hard if he was to avoid another holocaust. He couldn't follow Charles' path. That would doom them all. "Do as you wish, just make sure no one follows." The mutant super villain rose to the air along with his new weapons. He ripped open a hole large enough for him and the missiles with his magnetism to exit.

"Cortez to all Acolytes; eliminate everyone here." His lips curled into an ominous smirk. "Burn this place to the ground." They would burn everything to the ground. That would teach the inferior primitives their place. The age of man was over. It was time for the mutants to rise and take their rightful place as rulers of the world.

* * *

Today was going to be a bad day. Clint could tell that as soon as he got out of bed. He just had a feeling. Natasha said it was intuition, but he preferred to call it his gut. It never let him down before. It hadn't let him down that morning either. Every news channel was covering a mutant terrorist attack on military facility. Unsurprisingly the mastermind behind the whole thing was public mutant enemy number one, Magneto. He and his minions trashed a facility and killed every soldier serving there. Also unsurprisingly people were in an uproar. In his old days with S.H.I.E.L.D. this headache wouldn't concern him in the slightest.

S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't get tangled in mutant affairs directly. According to Fury that was all politics. It was one of the few things Clint agreed with his old boss on. They steered clear of the Mutant Registration business. They let the politicians, needing a cause to win votes make their Mutant Response Divisions, deal with the mutant debate. They only got involved if mutant was an agent of Hydra or trying to blow up the world. They certainly didn't play clean up to every mutant attack or incident. But that was the good old days with S.H.I.E.L.D. The Avengers didn't agree with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mutant policy or non-policy. He was on the Quinjet piloted by the Avengers' fearless leader, Captain America and Vision, the synthezoid. The three of them were on route to Washington D.C. and sticking their noses in something they shouldn't get involved in. As usual he was the only voice of reason.

"Do you mind explaining to me why we're going to D.C. again, old man?" He swore he saw the captain roll his eyes. Even Captain America couldn't hide when he got annoyed all the time it seemed. He was counting this a minor victory.

"You know why we're going, Clint. The president asked us there personally," the captain replied. "He wants our help in dealing with fallout of the attack."

"I guess the better question is why did the president call us in?" Hawkeye retorted. "They know Magneto did it. Why not leave it to their little M.R.D.s to handle him?"

"I do not understand your reluctance, Hawkeye," Vision said. "Is it not the Avengers duty to serve the people and protect them?"

Serve and protect, Vision was officially spending too much time with Cap. He had to get the synthezoid away from the old man for an evening and get him out to socialize. He didn't want the poor android to start calling everyone soldier.

A small smile graced Steve's lips. "Yes, Vision. That is exactly what the Avengers do." Steve was glad to see Vision asking more questions. He took it as a sign that Vision was going beyond the unfeeling automaton that only followed orders. If he asked questions that meant he learned. If he learned that meant he would have more of his own opinions and feelings. "We are going to Washington to see how we can help out."

Vision turned back to the archer. "Why do you feel the Avengers are not needed in this situation, Hawkeye?"

"Do you want bullet points or whole arguments?" Clint asked sarcastically.

"I would prefer to hear your whole arguments to better understand your opinion on this topic," Vision replied.

Clint forgot that Vision hadn't fully grasped sarcasm yet. His wit was totally lost on the poor synthezoid. Sarcasm was part of his charm. "First after we saved the world from Galactus last week we all agreed to take a break. For us to get to actually enjoy the world we're always saving for once. Hulk bolted after the crowds stopped cheering, which was smart, since he missed cleanup we all had to do later. Stark went to west coast with his girlfriend Potts. They're enjoying that California sun. T'Challa went back home, probably living it up like the king he is. Wasp and Pym went vacationing. Thor has been coming and going from Asgard. He's probably spending time with that paramedic girl of his. Even Carol is spending time with the new Emperor Mar-Vell in the Kree Empire. The only ones who are stuck mansion sitting are you, me, and Cap. The three of us going to D.C. doesn't exactly sound like us relaxing."

This was a sore point with him. Clint wanted to live up somewhere like some exotic island or lodging around some pool on a cruise. Somehow he had gotten stuck with the two anti-social Avengers, Captain, living in the 40s and scared to breach out, America and the Vision, an actual robot who barely grasped human society let alone knowing how to socialize. "Second, getting involved in mutant affairs is a horrible idea. That's all politics that the Avengers should be above."

Still not comprehending Vision continued his questioning. "Why are mutant affairs political?"

"People have been debating about mutants since McCarthyism. It's a hot button topic that comes up every time some mutant kid so much as looks at normal kid wrong. People don't like to distinguish the bad mutants from the good ones, so you get one senator who will say every mutant needs to be rounded up and another one saying that's unconstitutional to do so. They argue back and forth on and on with no resolution. If you pick a side in the debate you put a bull's eye on your back. Every person dissects your every little word to call you a fascist or bleeding heart liberal, both of which alienate you from everyone. That's why it's a horrible idea for the Avengers to get involved directly. We should take down bad guys regardless of who or what they are, but the moment we start bringing mutants in for the government is when they start making us their mutant division. That stops us from doing our real job."

What Hawkeye said was logical. Despite his rude demeanor at times Vision found the archer to be a thoughtful and intelligent man. He didn't fully comprehend the human-mutant issue as people called it. From all the information he had gathered that people disliked mutants for their mutations. There were many who felt those mutations made them separate from the human race and a threat. However, people such as the Fantastic Four who were mutated by an outside source were treated as beloved heroes by the same people. What was the difference with natural born mutations and unnatural induced mutations that sparked two stark different reactions? It was apparent that he still had much to learn about human beings before he could begin to understand them.

"We are doing our job, Clint." Steve retorted. "We aren't going after anyone because they're mutants. We're going to see what happened then go from there. If we're asked to bring in Magneto we'll do so because he a committed a crime, not because he is a mutant." Steve wouldn't let the Avengers be used like that. Tony relinquished leadership to him, because he felt Steve was the best one to lead them. He wouldn't betray that trust. He believed in his heart that the Avengers should do everything within their power to help people, regardless with how other people viewed it. If they ignored this incident just because they were afraid to get involved in the mutant debate they were doing the victims a disservice.

"Besides, we still agreed to have a team at the mansion to respond to any crisis that may arise. It's just your bad luck you drew the short straw and got station at the mansion, Clint. The others are hardly sitting around. Tony and Ms. Potts went to California to start setting up a branch of Avengers in the west coast. T'Challa's had responsibilities in Wakanda to take care of. Ms. Marvel went to the Kree Empire to help Mar-Vell keep an eye on Ronan the Accuser. Not everyone in the Kree Empire share Mar-Vell's view. Ronan could be a figure for any Kree who want to cling to the old ways to rally behind. Wasp thinks that some time away from the Avengers could help Hank recover from his breakdown. I think the Hulk mentioned visiting old friends."

"Don't tell me you believe that. Stark says he's off on business, but I've seen the way he looks at Potts. He's notorious for his little "business trips" then is caught by gossip tabloids off running around with some celebrity or model. Jan just wants time alone with Pym and Carol practically jumped at the assignment to go to Hala. No matter what she says she totally has a thing for Mar-Vell. I know it's been over 60 years since your last date, old man, but please tell me you can at least recognize the signs," Clint half teased and half mocked. "If you started dating again you might just be able to read them." He expected to see a frown on the captain's face, but instead a smirk appeared instead.

"How is Black Widow?" Steve asked. Clint's grin fell. "What about Mockingbird?" To his amusement the chattering Clint became mute. The captain couldn't stop the triumphant grin that emerged. It was often one of them shut up Hawkeye.

Humans were so complex yet so easy to read at the same time. Their emotions could rule their actions, which Ultron considered a fatal flaw. It manifested itself in a number of different ways. At the mention of the Black Widow and Mockingbird Hawkeye's heartbeat sped up briefly. The archer's failure to make a comeback was unlike him. What human emotion was he experiencing that caused this?

Cap got him there, but the old man was being naïve if he thought doing the government a favor in stopping Magneto was as simple as that. Clint would have thought he would be wearier of the government since the Red Skull succeeded in infiltrating it and become the Secretary of Defense. Oh well he would see for himself the underhanded tactic of politics. "At least with Captain America here the press will bombard you with questions instead of me. For once I won't be the one caught on camera making the team look bad," he half joked. Seriously did they have to catch him on camera when things went wrong, but go to Tony when they saved the world?

* * *

The Quinjet arrived in U.S. capital quickly enough. Captain America verified their identity to air space control, while Vision and Hawkeye took in the sights. The newest Avenger commented on how lucky it was for the Red Skull's attack to have been stopped before he could destroy the nation's most prized monuments. All Clint saw was the angry protestors in the streets. All that was missing was pitchforks and torches and it would complete the blood thirsty mob vibe from the old horror films. The minute they landed just outside of the White House the reporters swarmed in. The vultures practically jumped them as soon as they came out. Thankfully secret service agents made a barricade between the heroes and the press.

"Captain, are the Avengers here to assist in capturing the mutants responsible for the destruction of a military base?" one reporter asked.

"In light of this new mutant attack do you think the Mutant Registration Act should be revisited?" questioned another reporter.

"How come the Avengers haven't done anything about the mutant problem before?"

Steve never did like media circus that went along with being a superhero. He would take Arnim Zola's most viscous creations over being on display for the reporters to scrutinize every little thing he did any day of the week. He always had to mind his words lest they be misconstrued. "No comment." It did nothing to deter the questions. The words had been second nature to him at this point. He had said it over and over again when reporters bombarded him about what his Skrull double ganger told the world to surrender.

"Still think this is a good idea?" Hawkeye asked smugly. Steve chose to ignore him. It was no secret that Clint could be cynical. The former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was certain them getting involved would spell disaster, but he refused to believe that. If they didn't try to help when they could than they were no better than the people responsible for the crime. The people in the crowd weren't just reporters. There were a number of everyday people there. What he saw disturbed him. They chanted slurs at mutant in general. One person had a noose in their hand. It was eerie to see such a mob out of blind hatred again. He remembered those same mobs in his day. The world had changed so much from his day. It made so much advancement that he could hardly believe it himself. Despite all that advancement some things hadn't changed to Steve's surprise and dismay. Physical and genetic differences still had the power to cause such strife.

Secret service agents ran a number of tests to verify that they were who they said they were. Steve and Clint had to check their weapons in with them. Steve was reluctant to let go of one of the few links to his old life, but he ultimately surrendered it. The agents were doing their duty and making sure the president wasn't in any danger. Of course there was a minor debate on whether or not Vision could accompany them, because of his robotic nature and abilities, but he refused to budge on that. As far as Steve was concerned Vision was an Avenger. If they wanted the Avengers help they would allow Vision to meet the president as well.

Three heroes were in the oval office. For third time in his life Captain America met the president. The first time was when he met FDR after Project Rebirth had been a success. The second time had been when he and the Avengers exposed and captured the Red Skull. The president was a tall and clean shaven man. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and light shaded brown skin. He wore a dark gray suit and a black tie. The bags under his eyes and small wrinkles forming on his face were testimony to the stress that came from shouldering an entire nation. Despite looking worn out a bright and wide smile formed. He got out of his seat to greet them.

"It is good to see you again, Captain America." He reached out to shake hands.

"Mr. President," Steve greeted. One by one each one of the Avengers shook his hand.

"I'm glad you agreed to come here today," the president continued. He sat back into his chair. "I'm sure all of you are aware of what happened last night?"

Steve was about to respond when Hawkeye beat him to it. "If you mean a military facility being destroyed by Magneto and his latest bunch of cronies for his Brotherhood than yes, we heard a little about that." The sarcasm, wit, and amusement were blended so perfectly. For his efforts he earned glare from every secret service agent in the room. If the president disapproved of Hawkeye's remark he didn't show it.

"As you can see the attack has started a new wave of anti-mutant hysteria across the nation. Magneto and his followers were ruthless. They killed every soldier at the facility and reduced the building to ruble."

"This is bold for Magneto," the captain commented. "He usually attacks organizations, companies, and other groups that suppress or discriminate against mutants. He doesn't lash out at the government or government officials unless there is a bill like Mutant Registration being discussed."

Clint was dumbfounded at the super soldier's knowledge. "How did you know all that? We've never encountered Magneto before?"

Captain America smirked. "When I was catching up on events after War World II I came across articles on mutant activities. Magneto's name came up more than a few times. I even read all the data Jarvis had on him."

"Color me impressed, Captain," the president said with a appreciative smile. "You're partially right. Magneto has made vicious moves against us before, but this is still so ruthless for him." The charisma had evaporated leaving a worn out and tired man. "This has been a terrible day. He killed every last man and woman on that base."

Vision observed the change in the president's demeanor. The sorrow was evident to him. He suspected the loss of lives weighed heavily on him. Proper etiquette would be for him to counsel the man, but they had an objective. The president's word choice caught his interest. "Excuse me, Mr. President, may I inquire why did you say Captain America was only partially correct in his assessment of Magneto?"

"A while back Magneto used his powers to take control of Sentinels. He sent them to attack Washington. Fortunately for us they were stopped before they ever reached here."

"Who stopped them?" Vision asked. Before the president could answer his question the door opened up. One of the agents stuck his head in.

"Sir, the other party is here."

The president's demeanor shifted. Stress melted. "Please send them in and thank you." The agent disappeared behind the door. Seconds later the door opened again. No agent came through this time. Three people in uniforms walked through. The first one to walk in was a tall and slim man. He wasn't overly muscular as Captain America was, but he was slightly more muscular than Hawkeye's physique. He wore a dark navy blue body suit and matching mask that was cut off before his nose. He wore a dark gray visor with ruby red lens. A yellow-gold belt was strapped around his waist. In the center was a X. He wore black boots. He wore a dark gray trench coat.

A woman of average height followed after him. The most noticeable thing about her was her long red hair. She wore a dark green body suit that showed off her full figure. There was a giant yellow X on her chest. She wore matching yellow boots, gloves, and a belt with X on it.

The final one was the most unusual of all. His body and posture were more animal like than human. He had blue fur all over his body. His hair was unruly, but didn't exceed his shoulders. He had blue sideburns. His body frame was large and muscular, at least twice as large as the build of an average man. He had a minor hunch back that made him slouch. He was shorter than the first man, but taller than the woman. Unlike other two he didn't wear a full body suit and was barefoot. His pants were mixed colored. The outside was bright yellow, while the inside was dark blue. He wore a dark blue vest, while the inside lining was yellow. There X on right side of his vest.

"You wanted to know who stopped Magneto, Vision. You are looking at the people responsible." The president opened his arms to welcome the new arrivals. "Avengers I would like to introduce you to the X-Men."

* * *

**Let me know what you think so far. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I barrowed elements from Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon for this story, but also elements of the 90s X-Men too. The characters from the X series will be a nice mix of various series. They'll probably more influenced by Wolverine and the X-Men. Cyclops and Beast's appearances are lifted straight from the cartoon. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or the X-Men.**

* * *

"This is Cyclops," the president pointed the man wearing the visor, "the Beast," next he pointed to the blue one, "and Marvel Girl," and he pointed the final member.

The red haired woman frowned. "Jean Grey will do fine." The frown subsided instantly as soon as she saw who else was in the room. Her green eyes widened with shock. "Oh wow, the Avengers. This is surprising. I mean I should have realized when he said Avengers that he was talking about **the** Avengers. I didn't know the Avengers would be here." She wanted to die right there and now. She was babbling like a school girl in awe of her favorite rock band. She thought those days were behind her. "Scott, Hank, why didn't you tell me?"

An equally surprised Beast was having trouble forming thoughts of his own. "I must confess that I too was unaware the Avengers were coming."

"You aren't the only ones," Hawkeye announced. "I don't get why we're here if you called the X-Men. They've taken on Magneto more times than anyone else and always come out on top. The Avengers aren't needed here."

Steve found himself agreeing with Clint. His knowledge on the X-Men was limited, but he did know they were a mutant superhero team who dealt with Magneto and other mutant super villains. Just as Clint said they defeated all of their foes without help. They certainly wouldn't need the Avengers help in dealing with Magneto this time. "Why did you call both teams here?" the captain asked the president. Steve curious of the president's reasoning for calling the Avengers when he already had the X-Men.

The president inhaled deeply before exhaling. "I called both the Avengers and X-Men because I need both of your expertise." Both superhero teams stared at him trying to discern his words as if there was a hidden meaning behind them. "What I'm about to tell you hasn't been made public yet. We didn't want to cause mass hysteria. Magneto didn't just destroy a military facility. The facility was holding nuclear missiles that were going to be deployed into one of our military bases overseas. We checked the debris and every single one of them was missing." The faces around him were stricken by fear and disbelief. That was the same fear and disbelief he had when he heard the news.

"Are you sure they weren't destroyed?" Cyclops asked. "From what I saw on the news the entire base was left in shambles. I wouldn't be surprised if missiles were destroyed as well."

He sounded hopeful, but it was in vain. The president would have to deflate that misguided hope if they were going to get anywhere. "If only that were true, but unfortunately if that were the case we would have found the remains of the missiles in the wreckage. There wasn't a single shred of debris from missiles. That leads us to believe…"

"That Magneto has the missiles," Steve finished solemnly.

"This is what the professor always feared," a grim faced Cyclops said.

Outraged Hawkeye slammed his hands onto the president's desk. Immediately every agent had their guns aimed at him. The former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent paid them no attention and focused his anger on the man sitting behind the desk. "How could you let a mad man like him steal nuclear weapons? Now the whole country is his target!" He wanted to shout more, but Cap stopped him.

"Easy there, Hawkeye." Those three words were enough to quell his frustrations for the time being anyway. Well that and all the guns aimed at him also helped him hold his tongue for a bit as well.

"Believe me, Hawkeye you are not the only one who feels this way," the president sighed. "A mutant terrorist with stolen nuclear missiles makes everyone nervous. We're trying to contact Genosha…."

"Genosha?" Steve never heard the name before. When he woke up from his ice hibernation he had to catch up on more than 60 years of history. While he made incredible progress there was still so much he didn't know about yet. Genosha was in the category of things he hadn't learned yet.

"Genosha is an island nation run and inhabited entirely by mutants or it is now." The captain turned around to that Cyclops had answered his question. "Originally the Genoshan government used its mutant population as slave labor. They tried to lure more mutants in by advertising it as a mutant paradise. As soon as mutants came in they weren't allowed to leave or even contact the outside world. It was the perfect cover. People thought mutants didn't leave because it was a mutant paradise," Cyclops said with a begrudging respect.

"Even today no one is sure just how long Genosha had been enslaving mutants. The popular belief is that it happened 30 years ago when Genosha made a name for itself as wealthy nation on its way to becoming a world power. A few years ago a group of mutants escaped on a makeshift raft. As you can imagine traveling on the seas in a raft was deadly. Only one person survived the voyage, a little girl. That was because a U.S. naval ship found the raft. They brought her back to the States and she told the world what really went on in Genosha. The UN debated on how to handle the crisis, but Magneto took it upon himself to act."

"He and his Brotherhood of Mutants invaded Genosha. They freed all the mutants they could and started an uprising that overthrew the Genoshan government. In gratitude to Magneto for liberating him the mutants made him the new ruler of Genosha. Magneto tried to turn Genosha into a true mutant paradise. The human population was allowed to remain, but most fled out of fear of mutants retaliating. To be fair those fears weren't unfounded. The ones who remained kept disappearing without a trace, until only the mutant population remained," Cyclops finished.

The president took over. "Tensions with Genosha were high when Magneto came into power. In order to avoid conflict with Magneto we made a deal with him. We didn't want him interfering directly in U.S. affairs, so we promised to send him mutants imprisoned by the Mutant Response Division. We thought we were killing two birds with one stone. Instead of spending money to build new prisons to house mutant criminals we would send them to Genosha. We revoked their citizenship so they couldn't get back into the country. Of course we kept the ones with the most dangerous powers here. We weren't too trusting. The arrangement worked for a while. Magneto was happy and we were happy. Everything fell apart when the M.R.D. became overzealous. They weren't just capturing mutants who committed crimes…."

"They were capturing any mutant they deemed was a threat," Beast interrupted. Disapproval colored his words.

At this response Steve frowned. "I thought punishment came after the crime not before it."

Jean furrowed her brow. "That's how it should be, but Senator Kelly's paranoia of mutant-kind ran rampant." She remembered those dark days. Senator Kelly infected the whole nation with irrational fear of all mutant kind. He could even make a child with a mutation that gave him a fish appearance out to be a raging monster ready to massacre all humans. The worst part was Kelly actually believed every word he spoke. That allowed him to draw in millions of people to his way of thinking. "He used Magneto and the Brotherhood to scare people into supporting his policies. He won so much support that M.R.D. was able to round any mutant who didn't register and start the Sentinel program."

Sentinels were something that Steve didn't need information on. He read articles about the robotic giants built by a scientist named Trusk or Trask to use against mutant criminals. The Sentinel program was shut down before it truly got started around the same time the Mutant Registration Act fell through.

The president squirmed and fidgeted like a child caught doing mischief by his parents. "I admit mistakes were made. Senator Kelly was given too much control over the M.R.D. After the more horrific actions he had taken were revealed to us he was reeled in and the Sentinels program was shutdown. We tried to make amends by releasing all mutants who were wrongfully imprisoned, but that wasn't enough for Magneto. He wanted a war. He staged an attack on Genosha by having one of his flunkies reprogram the last remaining Sentinels to rally his people against us. If it weren't for you X-Men he would have succeeded."

This didn't make sense to Vision. Why would Magneto go as far as to attack his own people just to start a war? "I do not understand how instigating a war would have helped achieve Magneto's goal of mutant prosperity?"

"Magneto doesn't believe normal humans and mutants can co-exist," Jean explained. "In short he believes war is inevitable. He wants to rally all mutant kind to his cause in order to strike first. That's why the X-Men come in conflict with him. He takes extreme actions against the human race, so we have to stop him."

Steve shook his head in disgust. "To attack his people not only betrays them, but discredits his entire cause. You shouldn't rally people behind fear." He had seen that enough times in his day and in the 21st century to know that always ended horribly.

"You are not wrong, captain," Beast agreed. "After we revealed Magneto's actions the people of Genosha exiled him. His daughter, Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch, was made ruler in his place."

The president nodded in agreement. "Under her rule we've had friendly relations with Genosha. We even lifted the embargo we had when Magneto was ruler. Now after last night I have a bunch of angry senators on the phone demanding Magneto's head. They want send troops to storm Genosha, never mind the fact that there is no evidence Magneto is actually in Genosha at all." He massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. "I'm trying my best to reason with them, but it's not getting through to them. There is going to an emergency session of Congress later this week on what to do. It looks like there could be a vote to send soldiers to Genosha. If it passes that means we could be at war with Genosha."

Both the Avengers and X-Men let the weight of the president's words sink in. War with Genosha would resonate throughout the country. In the worst case scenario a war with the only mutant ruled nation in the world could permanently split the human and mutant populations. Irrational hate would consume people. All mutants would be targeted by hate filled humans. The mutants would strike back with fury just as great if not greater. The nation would split in two. The aftermath would reshape the nation into something that both sides might not want to see.

"A war with Genosha could start a second civil war here, one between humans and mutants," the president said, vocalizing all of their shared fears. After everything his administration had done to improve human-mutant relations everything was falling apart after just one terrible night. Yesterday they were talking about a mutant's right act. Sure prejudice was still there and no doubt a mutants' right act would be filibustered, but it was a start. Now they were on the brink of war.

"We've already seen where that war leads to," Cyclops muttered darkly. The memories of Xavier's mental pictures of the Sentinel ruled future was forever scarred into his brain. The war had no winners, mutants and humans were both on the brink of extinction thanks to the robotic overlords. Mutants were rounded up into internment camps just waiting to die off. The humans who helped them were terminated immediately. It was the worst future he could imagine. It was a future of death and destruction. It was future he thought they averted. Here they were again. That future appeared to approaching them fast. They had to stop it no matter what. "You said you were trying to contact Genosha. Does that mean you haven't been able to contact them at all yet?"

"We did contact them. Scarlet Witch has her own people searching the island for any signs of Magneto, but refused to let us send any of our own people there to help. Naturally you can see how this looks. Magneto would need the resources and a base of operations if he plans to use missiles. Genosha is under the rule of his daughter."

"You don't trust her?" Hawkeye said bluntly.

"I don't think she is lying," the president answered truthfully. "Scarlet Witch has given me no reason to doubt her intentions in the past. She has always been fair in our dealings, tough, but fair. However, she was one of Magneto's most devoted followers and his daughter to boot. I think she's earned the benefit of the doubt, but if I'm wrong well I would have bigger problems than trying to get reelected," the president said.

"That's why I called all of you here. The Avengers and the X-Men aren't officially tied to the government. If you go to Genosha she might allow you to search. The X-Men have the most experience in dealing with Magneto and the Avengers' track record for saving world is short of spectacular that I can't think of anyone better for apprehending Magneto and retrieving missiles before the emergency session even starts."

Might was never a good word in Clint's experience. That meant this endeavor was unsanctioned. Would Scarlet Witch be as willing to let them in her country as the president thought? His gut told him no. The Avengers were famed heroes all over the world, not every nation approved of them or welcomed them.

Steve's conscious nagged at him. The president's plan didn't sit well with him. They didn't have evidence that Genosha was harboring Magneto. Going there without any evidence without their permission was wrong. That was overstepping their bonds. "I'm sorry Mr. President, but we can't just go into another country that doesn't want us there. It is Scarlet Witch's country. She has the right to run things without us interfering."

Beast chimed in, "I concur with Captain America. You yourself have said there is no evidence to suggest Wanda is lying to you. The United States and Genosha's friendly relationship has gone a long way to improve human and mutant relationships here. We should at least try to make contact with her before we head to Genosha or we risk the very war we wish to avoid."

"I wouldn't be asking any of you to do something like this if the situation wasn't dire. Anti-mutant sentiment has pretty much surged because of this attack. I have people banging on the gates crying for mutants to be locked up. We're on the brink of a war. If we do nothing we risk war, but if we can catch Magneto and get the missiles back we can avert all of this. I'm not asking you to go over there as soldiers or agents. I'm asking you to do what you always do, help people. As far as I'm concerned you're doing what usually do, which means no reporting to me, S.H.I.E.L.D., the CIA, or anyone. You're just trying to find a super villain and if it just so happens to take you to Genosha so be it."

That sounded a little too much like what Nick Fury would have told him. That underhanded nature always bothered Steve. He was a soldier. It wasn't that he didn't understand that some operations had to be secret to ensure success and to stop the enemy, but the subterfuge and manipulation could cause as many problems as they fixed. At the same time Steve found he couldn't argue with the president's reasoning. War was never kind. No matter what the cause or reason it always ate away at everyone involved. It changed people. It left its scars. He experienced that first hand. The good Lord knew how the constant battles played a hand in transforming plucky Bucky into the stoic pessimistic Winter Soldier. If he could prevent another war from scarring more people he would take it. Against his better judgment the captain took a deep breath. "The Avengers are in," he said reluctantly.

The X-Men were far from convinced. Beast let his anxieties mar his face. "I still insist that we continue to try to reach Wanda. Despite her past and parentage she has been working tirelessly to undo the damage her father had done. We should at least give her a chance."

"Sometimes we can't afford to go through the proper channels blue boy," Hawkeye sneered. This earned him a glare from the Beast.

"The X-Men have worked with Wanda in the past. She might be willing to let us in Genosha if we ask her to," Beast argued.

"Finding Magneto takes primary importance," Cyclops stated firmly. "I don't believe Wanda got herself mixed up with him again, but we have to consider it a possibility at this point. If she is that means she won't respond to our calls."

Beast was about to argue when he felt a gentle touch on his right arm. He turned around to see a compassionate Jean giving him a weary smile. "Scott has a point, Hank. Too much is riding on this. Remember the professor showed us the result of a human-mutant war. If the public finds out that Magneto stole nuclear missiles they'll want the Sentinel program reactivated. That dark future could still happen."

Hank gave in. Asking for forgiveness afterward would be easier than asking permission. "The X-Men will help as well," Cyclops assured. The president looked as if the clock had been turned back. Creases in his face were dissolved.

"Thank you. You have no idea just how much this means." The relief in his voice was unmistakable. He watched the group of heroes exit his office. He put all the nation's hopes on them. It was up to them now to make sure the world kept spinning.

* * *

Captain America turned to the X-Men. "We didn't get to properly introduce ourselves to you. I'm Steve Rogers." He held his hand out.

Cyclops shook the hand of the living legend. He could hardly believe he was face to face with Captain America himself. The man was a symbol of hope to millions of people during a bleak time. He was still a beacon of hope to anyone oppressed or suffering. Scott admired him since he was a boy. "It is an honor to meet you, captain. I'm Scott Summers, the field leader of the X-Men."

"The honor is all mine, son. I've followed some of your exploits. I know the X-Men have been fighting the good fight in spite of the fear and prejudice people give you. You're real heroes."

"Coming from you that means a lot," Cyclops said almost giddily. He sounded like a school boy. He was eternally thankful Logan wasn't here to see this or he would never let him live it down, ever.

He let go of the X-leader's hand and turned his sights to the red haired woman. "You're called Marvel Girl, right?" He heard her groan.

"My code name is Marvel Girl, but I prefer Jean." She had to talk to the professor about changing it. The name was fine when she was a teenager, but she was a fully grown woman now. No one even called her by that name anymore anyway. Most forgot about the name. If Kitty heard it she would probably tease her to no end.

Before Captain America could ask the final member was ready. "The Beast is my code name, but I am also known as Dr. Henry McCoy or Hank for short. I am fine by either name."

"It is good to meet you, Dr. McCoy." They shared a brief handshake.

Clint knew were this was going and before Cap could even ask he was already introducing himself. "Clint or Hawkeye, either name is good."

"I am the Vision," the android mustered his friendliest tone. Iron Man had offered to adjust his voice box to allow him to sound more human, but he declined. Against logic he wanted try to sound less robotic on his own. He practiced alone in his quarters in secret from the other Avengers. Part of him feared they would tease him. Cyclops shook his hand hesitantly unsure of what to make of him. Marvel Girl cast him an odd expression before quickly changing it. To contrast his teammates less than stellar reactions the Beast's face lit up with what could only be described as uninhibited delight.

He eagerly shook his hand forgetting to mind his strength. Vision didn't find it a problem, but knew if he had a human body Beast would have accidently crushed his hand. "Astonishing, your sleek design and humanoid appearance are remarkable. This is some of the most advance robotics I have ever seen. You're a perfect android or…."

"Synthetic humanoid or synthezoid for short," Vision supplied.

Beast's smile widened. The X-Man found his term more appealing than the term android. "Synthezoid does you more justice than android does of course. Your mannerisms are closer to human than the original android models. I shouldn't be surprised given how advance Tony Stark's Iron Man armor is. Is he also responsible for your design?"

"My design and creation is the result of the joint efforts of Tony Stark and Hank Pym on synthetic humanoids models."

"Oh, of course! How could I forget Dr. Pym's theories on mapping human brain patterns into a computer? It caused a stir in the scientific community. There were a number of people who thought the theory was impossible and another group that thought it was unethical to do. I had no idea that Dr. Pym had been successful. Are you the first generation?"

"Actually I am the second generation of synthezoids."

"There is already a second generation? I wish Forge could see this. He would want to meet you."

Cyclops rolled his eyes behind his visor. Hank always got like this when something stirred his scientific interest. "Sorry about this," he told the captain. "Hank gets excited about technology and science."

"No need to apologize. Our Hank is the same way or was the same way." Steve never thought he would get used to their Hank's enthusiasm when he first joined the Avengers. Now he found himself missing the scientist that nearly jumped out of his skin when he witnessed some new monstrous creation or 41st century technology from the future.

"We can arrange a playdate between the two Hanks later. We need to find Magneto before a war breaks out," Clint reminded the group.

"He's right," Steve said. "The X-Men have more experience dealing with Magneto and have a history with Scarlet Witch. The Avengers will follow your lead, Cyclops." The X leader acknowledged the super soldier with a head nod. "Let's go Avengers," Steve called.

"Move out X-Men," Scott said.

* * *

The two groups mobilized as fast as they could. Captain America and Hawkeye retrieved their weapons before returning to the Quinjet. Their mutant counterparts went to their jet, the Blackbird. They flew off to the direction of Genosha as soon as their jets reached the skies and far away from reporters or angry crowds. Jean telepathically sent the coordinates to Steve, startling him until she explained her mutant power of telepathy. He thought JARVIS took getting used to.

Cyclops opened communications with the Quinjet to talk the old fashion way, which Captain America appreciated. Hearing the X leader's voice with his ears and not his mind was more his comfort zone.

"Jean," Scott called. "Update the professor on what's going on and ask him to use Cerebro to scan for any disturbances in Genosha. Hank, you try to contact Wanda and get her permission to land in Genosha. She said we were welcome at any time, but I have a feeling she'll be more restrictive this time." Without a word of complaint they carried out their tasks. "With any luck we'll get Scarlet Witch's permission."

"If luck isn't on our side?" asked Steve.

"We'll have to do things the hard way," replied Cyclops.

"Knowing our luck we'll have to fight all of Genosha," Clint said, leaning back in his chair. "Aren't there supposed to be more X-Men? Where is Wolverine or that one that can control the weather?"

"Both Wolverine and Storm are on a mission with Nightcrawler and Rogue," Scott explained. "They are following a lead on a rogue mutant scientist, known as Mr. Sinister. He steals genetic material from mutants for his experimentations. The others are busy. We're the only ones available."

"That's perfect," the archer grumbled.

"Can't you in call the other Avengers?" Scott suggested.

"All of the other Avengers are occupied as well," Vision explained.

"The six of us will have to be enough," Captain America stated. Going in small numbers was probably best. They didn't want to look like a conquering army and give off the wrong impression.

"Any luck, Hank?" Scott knew if his friend made success he would have informed him immediately, but he still asked just in case Hank had some good news. His luck wasn't that good. Hank told him he was unsuccessfully. "What about the professor, Jean?"

"Hold on, Scott. The professor is going to tell us himself. He's just opening a telepathic link with the Avengers."

"Who is the professor you keep mentioning?" Steve asked.

"That would be me, captain," a disembodied voice said.

The super soldier jumped out of his seat. That wasn't Jean's voice. At least he wasn't the only one caught off guard. Clint was just as shaken up by this new voice as well. Vision was unable to hear anything.

"Please accept my apology, Captain Rogers. I know telepathic communications can be a bit eerie for the first time. I found this would be an easier way to communicate with you. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of the X-Men and I am considered something of an expert on mutants."

"I don't really think I can get used to hearing voices inside my head," Clint expressed his discomfort.

"The professor usually stays at our mansion and school, the Xavier Institute in New York. He acts as mission control for us," Scott explained over the telepathic link.

"He can communicate with us from that far?" Clint cried in disbelief. He never heard of a telepath with such infinite range before.

"I am able to communicate with you at such distance with aid of Cerebro. It's a device created to help me find other mutants anywhere on the planet so I could help them control their powers."

Confusion set in on Steve. "Professor, if you can use this Cerebro to find other mutants why not use it to find Magneto?"

"Sadly I cannot find Magneto with Cerebro. You see we were once friends. We built Cerebro and started the Xavier Institute together. Magneto didn't believe co-existence between normal humans and mutants could ever be achieved. He left to gather his own followers to prepare for a war he feels is inevitable. He knows how to block my telepathy because of his hand in Cerebro's creation."

There had to something more they could do Steve thought. Maybe there was a person with Magneto that they could find.

"I am unaware of who Eric's latest followers are. Without that knowledge I cannot extend my search." Steve was amazed at how Xavier knew what he was thinking until he realized he was talking or thinking to a telepath. "I will keep you informed if I discover anything. I wish you all the best of luck."

Xavier's voice was no longer in their heads. The telepathic link he opened was closed off. Again Steve was puzzled at how the X-Men got used to sharing thoughts like that. Clint informed Vision of the conversation, leaving the super soldier alone with his own thoughts, just the way he liked it.

The Blackbird was no ordinary jet. It could keep up with Quinjet, which was the best Stark technology could offer. Like the Quinjet the Blackbird could travel at high speeds and skim the atmosphere. This cut down the time it would take a normal aircraft to travel across the globe considerably. The journey would take an hour at best. Without much to do the two teams would talk or prepare for the mission. Hawkeye was busy switching out all his metal arrows with plastic ones.

"You should use Stark's energy shield." Clint told Steve. "I know your old one has sentimental value, but its metal. Magneto can use it against us. Having seen that thing in action I don't want to be on the receiving end of it. I have no idea what we're going to do for you Vision," he wondered aloud.

"After our last battle with Ultron the energy shield was destroyed. Tony never got around to making another one. I'll have to take my chances." With a little luck on his side his trusty shield wouldn't be used to bash his teammates' skulls in. He shared Clint's concern about Vision. His metal body would make him all, but putty in Magneto's hands. Time went by fast. Before they knew it they were ten minutes out of Genosha. Beast couldn't make contact with Genosha and eventually gave up. The plan was to reach country and go to Scarlet Witch themselves. Both jets possessed two of the best cloaking devices known to man. They could get to the country without alerting any radar. The challenge would be the trek to Scarlet Witch on the ground without being spotted.

They successfully entered Genosha without getting shot at a fact that Hawkeye happily expressed. They came to a consensus to land the planes away from the cities and to go on foot. The Quinjet and Blackbird were landed in a jungle not too far from Hammer Cove, the capital. They could walk there in no time at all. The two sets of heroes exited the jets and met outside.

Vision floated above the tops of the untamed jungle trees. He scanned the area, but found nothing standing out. When his recon was done the synthezoid landed back to his earthbound teammates. "My scanners detected no human life signals within the immediate area. We should be safe at the moment."

Cyclops turned to Jean. "Do you sense anything?" She shook her head no. "It's not too far from Hammer Cove. If we hike now we could definitely be there before the sun even sets. Beast and Vision should cover our rear. Vision flies and Beast is a regular Tarzan when it comes to swinging on trees. Between the two of them they should see anyone without being seen themselves. Jean and Hawkeye you go to the front, while Captain America and I will be in the center and steal focus away from you two. Jean's telepathy and Hawkeye's eyes should give us a heads up if anyone is coming ahead of us" They had their assignments and were quick to act them out. Vision glided behind with Beast swinging from the tree tops. Jean and Hawkeye ran ahead leaving the two team leaders in the center.

None of them were aware that they're arrival hadn't gone undetected. Miles away in the citadel that once belonged to the master of magnetism a woman sat on the cold metallic floors in a meditative stance. Completely disconnected with her surrounding her mind was in the jungles with the six intruders. Three were familiar to her, while the other three she hadn't met, but she was vaguely sure she had seen two of them before. She was about to get a closer look when Jean Grey was about to start a telepathic probe of the area. The telepath would instantly sense her presence if she stayed there, so she fled back to her body. She was out of the jungles and back in the citadel and into her own body.

She was taller than the average woman, had long blonde hair, and wore a mostly dark blue uniform. The long arm sleeves were dull red. There was two red thin red strips side of her top, two red stripes just above her thighs, and a red headband. Her eyes opened to reveal a light shade of blue. Her face stern and a bit worn, yet she was still pleasing to the eye.

"What is it, Scanner?"

Traveling outside of her body in astral form had its benefits, but also had its own share of drawbacks. One of the drawbacks was her need to readjust to her body and its normal senses. The blue and white blur she saw when she first opened her eyes fully formed into a man. He was a young man, but had short white hair. His face plagued with lines from constant scowling. He wore a full body turquoise spandex uniform with matching gloves and boots. A white lightning bolt was plastered on his chest. The trim of his gloves and boots were shaped in white lightning bolts. He even had a stripe of white around his waist shaped as a lightning bolt.

"The X-Men and some people I don't know are on the island."

"Typical. The president was hounding us and who shows up no other than Xavier's high and mighty X-Men. Nice to know they still don't trust us."

"What should we do?" Scanner asked.

"Inform Wanda of what's going on. I'll take the others and intercept the invaders. Genosha is our country. The humans aren't going to interfere in our affairs. If Charles Xavier thinks that he and his X-Men can come in here and tell us what do like the old days they've got another thing coming."

* * *

Their trek through the wilderness was largely uneventful. So far they hadn't encountered any of the mutant citizens. Everything was going smoothly. Things were going a little too smoothly. A sense of dread was spreading throughout the group. Even Vision could feel it. In his time with the Avengers he learned that things didn't go as well as planned. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say nothing had ever gone as planned during his tenure. No matter how many times he scanned the area he couldn't detect any life signatures. Logically this meant everything was going according to plan, yet he still could not help, but feel that this was a false sense of security.

Here he was relying on feelings over cold hard logic. Ultron would have been disappointed in this latest development yet Vision felt an odd sense of satisfaction in going against his creator's programing and experiencing more human emotions. Wasp one time joked that the satisfaction he took over defying Ultron was a form of teenage rebellion. "Dr. McCoy, I detect no life signatures in the immediate area. However, I cannot help but feel this situation will change in a moment's notice."

Beast had finished hopping to the next tree in his path. "I share similar sentiments. Even though we landed in the jungle it is still unlikely for us to not encounter any of the citizens, especially this close to the capital." He swung to closest branch.

Vision calculated the probability of not encountering a human or animal in area near the capital of the mutant nation. As Beast said it was very unlikely for them not to have encountered anyone. He redid the math two more times and it came out the same. "By my calculations given we are in close proximity to Genosha's capital there is a 33.96% probability of us not encountering another human or animal."

Hank was afraid of this. Now Vision confirmed his fears were not baseless. Now he feared they were walking into an ambush. Ready for any danger that should appear Captain America was armed with his shield, while Hawkeye had his trusty bow in hand. "Anyone else feel like we're just walking right into a trap?" Clint had enough of the silence. It made things worse.

"You don't have to be a telepath to know everyone is thinking the same thing as you." Jean smiled. Like Hawkeye she found the quietness to be suffocating.

"We established we feel like we're heading to a trap. The next order of business is what should we expect?" Hawkeye posed the question to the blue cladded leaders. Neither of them answered his question. Instead he was answered by the sudden quaking of the earth. The seismic disruption forced all of them to their knees. Beast lost his grip on branch and fell. Before he could crash Vision scooped him up.

"You have my thanks, Vision."

"Thanks is not required, Dr. McCoy. My analysis of the area suggests that this seismic activity is not a natural occurrence."

Beast wasn't surprised to hear that the earthquake was unnatural. He had a pretty good idea on who was behind it.

The heroes struggled with the earthquake when it ended just as sudden as it had begun. As they all started recovering when five people appeared out of thin air. On the left was the massive form of the red haired, Blob and the green skinned Toad. The bulky Avalanche and limber Domino were on the right. Right in front of them stood the speedster Quicksilver. They surrounded the heroes.

Quicksilver was taken aback when he taken sight of the invaders. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Beast were expected, but he had no idea he would be staring at Captain freaking America, stripes, stars, and all. "X-men and Avengers!" he heard Toad exclaim. "How the hell does Scanner not recognize Captain America?" Quicksilver found himself agreeing with Toad for a change. The presence of world saving heroes intimidated him, but they couldn't back down. Genosha was their country. If they weren't prepared to fight for it even against the Avengers than anyone could waltz in and tell them what to do whenever they pleased.

"I don't care who they are. They are still invaders. We won't let anyone threaten Genosha. It's time to take out the trash." Quicksilver was impressed by the force he was able to put into his words. It dispelled any fear from his teammates. Domino cocked and aimed her blaster gun at the invaders. Blob planted his feet firmly in the ground. Even Toad was ready to pounce. "Attack!" The defenders of Genosha launched at their opposition. The heroes still off balance watched as their enemies moved in for the attack.

"I had to ask," Clint growled. He hastily rushed for an arrow only to have his arm stopped by something wet and sticky. He turned is head to see Toad's overgrown tongue wrapped around his forearm. "Now that's just disgust…" He was lifted off his feet and hurled right into the side of a tree. His back was going to kill him tomorrow.

Captain America rushed to his friend's aid only to be blocked by the gluttonous form of Blob. "Stand aside."

A devious smile emerged from the bloated face. "What are you going to do about it, flag boy?" The captain rammed his shield straight at his gut. As soon as the shield came in contact with his flabby belly it stopped. He loved to see the expression of disbelief on people's faces when they saw that. He charged Captain America, surprising him with his speed. Blob rammed the star spangled hero and watched him fly several feet away. "I guess no one told you I'm the immovable Blob." His victory was short lived as he was lifted into the air powerless to move and frightened. He was the victim of Jean Grey's telekinesis.

"Only immovable if you are on the gro….Aaaahh!" A sharp jolt stuck Jean's body. Her concentration was lost along with her hold on Blob. She fell fighting to remain conscious. Domino smirked at the fallen X-Woman. Her blaster gun's stung function was more powerful than she thought.

Avalanche and Cyclops were locked in combat. Cyclops blocked a punch from the earthquake starter then he swiftly followed with a hard kick to the chest. Avalanche stumbled backward, but he didn't go down. He countered with a series of punches, only for Cyclops to weave in and out of them. Seeing an opening Cyclops delivered a straight jab to the face and the abdomen. He charged Avalanche knocking him off his feet. With his opponent down the X leader fired an optic blast at Domino. She saw it coming and was able to jump out of the way. He prepared for a second shot he was thrown off his feet by a strong blow.

"Too slow, Summers." Cyclops tried to blast Quicksilver. The dope didn't even realize he was gone by the time his hand got to visor. The next blast had no better luck nor did the one after that. Quicksilver found amusement in dodging the red energy blasts, but enough was enough. After evaded the next blast he went behind Summers. He tapped him on the shoulder. Cyclops readied another blast as he turned around Quicksilver punched him in the face before he could fire the shot off. "You X-Men aren't as tough as you think."

While the speedster celebrated his victory over the X leader he failed to see the energy blast from behind him. His face met the hard earth as a result. "Quicksilver!" he heard Domino cry.

Vision and Beast rushed to their team's aid. The synthezoid got the jump on the speedster before he could react by unleashing the energy beam from his gem. At Beast's insistence he threw him at the Blob just as he was closing in on Marvel Girl. The blue X-Man landed on top of his head. For the Blob this act was not only surprising, but harmful. In his struggle to get Beast off he staggered around. Without taking root to the ground his immovable ability was all, but useless. A recovering Cyclops saw this opportunity and took it. He fired an optic blast at the villain's legs. Blob went tumbling down, while Beast jumped off of him.

Toad angered at his friend's fall charged at Cyclops without a second thought. "You are going to pay for that Summers!" Toad kicked Cyclops in his chest, knocking him down. He fired an optic blast only to have Toad hop over his head and dodge the blast entirely. Cyclops fired another shot that had similar results. Toad had better luck. His elongated tongue wrapped itself around the X-Man. Toad tossed him into the air. He gleefully watched his hated enemy fly. Before he could enjoy the splattering the Beast jumped into the air to catch his teammate.

"Thanks, Beast." The two men landed safely thanks to Beast's agility and stamina.

"Happy to be of assistance, Scott," Hank said warmly. He was quickly blinded by green slime splattered onto his eyes. It was stuck on his fur. It would take forever to get it out.

Toad snickered. "Sorry blue boy, but that's what you get when you mess up my fun." He turned his sights back to Cyclops. He leapt at Cyclops. His agility and ability to leap at high heights made him a tough target to hit, but not impossible. He found out the hard way when his legs were tied together by a specialized arrow that opened up into a grabbling rope. No longer able to jump made Toad an easy target for Cyclops who blasted him away.

"Thanks, Hawkeye." He lowered the setting of his visor and blasted off the slime stuck to Beast's eyes.

"No problem. I owed that little slime ball." He rubbed his arm against a tree. "My arm is still slimy," he complained.

Domino tried to run as far as she could from the robot, but he wouldn't let up. He fired a beam at her, but she dodged it. When she turned to shoot him he fired at her blaster gun and destroyed it. Forced to fall back on her handguns the white skinned mutant shot at him. She was confident her probability power would guide her shots to their mark. They did, except they went right through the robot. "No way." Domino continued to shoot at him, but they kept going right through him. He flew right through her. He grabbed her handguns from behind her. "What are you?"

"Vision," he replied. Hawkeye was rubbing off on him. He just made a quip.

Blob got back to his feet. He was seething. "I'm going crush all of you!" He rushed at Cyclops and Beast. They got out of his way. A sharp turn was enough to put Blob back on target. He was going right for Beast. He caught the glimpse of a spinning object smash against his head. Blackness filled his sights. He was knocked unconscious and crashed so hard that the ground shook. The shield returned to its owner. Captain America was glad the big guy could be knocked out.

Avalanche went for broke and ripped the ground apart beneath the heroes. They scattered as fast they could. Captain America, Cyclops, and Hawkeye launched their attacks. He was hit by the combined efforts of the mighty shield, an electric arrow, and an optic blast. The man was on his back and the air knocked out of him. His body refused to move and his head was killing him.

Quicksilver was the last one standing. "Surrender," the captain demanded. The white haired man smirked at the super soldier.

"I don't think so." He rushed them. He was a blur to them. He knocked down Cyclops, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Beast before any of them could move. "You boys are still too slow to touch me." He moved his feet, but found he wasn't touching the ground. A glance to below revealed he was floating helplessly in the air. Grey was back up. Seconds later he was made completely immobile altogether. He could feel Grey peering through his mind, commanding it, and enslaving it until he lost complete control of his body.

"What's happened to him?" Steve asked Jean.

"I mentally commanded his body to remain still. His speed is completely useless if his body is immobile. He's still aware of everything around him."

Uncomfortable with white haired man's stupefied expression Steve chose to look after the team. They checked all of the defeated mutants and made sure they were incapacitated. Vision had disarmed Domino who was struggling against his hold, though to avail.

"Well that was fun," Hawkeye joked.

"I believe you and I have different definitions of fun, Hawkeye." Beast rubbed his left shoulder. Quicksilver's blow left its mark. The archer shrugged his shoulders and flashed him a half grin.

Cyclops gave his attention to Jean. "Can you probe his mind and find out what he knows?"

"I'm already in process of doing that," she explained. "He doesn't know anything about the attack on the military base last night."

"That means Genosha wasn't a part of Magneto's attack," Captain America said uncertainly. Cyclops disagreed.

"Quicksilver and Magneto have a volatile relationship at best. He doesn't always share his plans with Quicksilver. We should still see Scarlet Witch. Magneto has always confided in her more." Cyclops turned back to Jean. "Can you find out Scarlet Witch's location?"

The telepath shook her head. "That's going to be pointless."

"Why is that?" the captain asked. In that instant the jungles were gone. There was nothing, but metal walls and floors. They were no longer alone. The heroes were inside a circle with armed guards outside of the circle. Their weapons were trained on them.

Standing off the side were two women, one dressed in red and other one dressed in green. The red dressed woman had long wavy auburn hair and green eyes. She wore a crimson corset, crimson gloves that reached up to her elbows, crimson boots that reached to her knees, a crimson M shaped head piece that partially covered the sides of her face, and a long crimson majestic cape. Underneath the corset she wore tights that were a light shade of red that was almost pink. The woman dressed in green had long straight light green hair, green eyes, and even green lipstick. She wore dark emerald pants with match boots, dark emerald low cut shirt that showed off her well-toned abdomen, emerald M shaped head piece that stopped just short of her cheeks, and a light green cape. They were both attractive, stunning.

"She knows where here," Jean answered simply.

* * *

**Let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

Domino's lips curled upward. The tables turned just like that. She really was good luck. "I'd let me go if I were you robot." Against his better judgment Vision released the pale skinned mutant. Jean maintained her psychic hold on Quicksilver a fact that didn't sit well with Scarlet Witch.

"Let go of my brother." Her tone was even, but the words were demanding with a mixture of anger. Knowing how horrifying that anger was the X-Woman complied with her wishes. Pietro was in control of his body again.

"We didn't come here for a fight, Wanda," Scott told her.

"You got a funny way of showing it, Summers." Quicksilver glared at the X leader.

Hawkeye in turn threw a glare at the speedster. "Hey genius, you attacked us first. We were coming here to talk to the Scarlet Witch."

Pietro's hard glare switched to the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "Do you big fancy Avengers make it a habit to cross into the boarders of other counties? Or do you just figure since Genosha is a mutant controlled country it doesn't matter?" he sneered.

"You make it a habit to attack visitors?" Clint shot right back with equal animosity.

"No, but we do attack invaders, which you are," Quicksilver returned. The two men traded hateful glares. Neither one of them was willing to back down.

Testosterone and short tempers were a volatile combination. It was a combination that could erupt into a full blown battle. Beast didn't want to enter a new battle this early when they could avoid it. Fighting wouldn't help them achieve their objective. He put himself between the archer and the speedster. "It was not are intentions to come here uninvited. We tried to contact Genosha, numerous times in fact."

"Because we don't respond that gives you the right to invade our home?" The green haired woman asked indignant.

"That is not what I was implying, Lorna. We wanted to go through the proper channels, but we were unable to get ahold of you. We had to come here…."

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that doesn't imply you're saying you have the right to invade our home because we failed to respond to your call?" Lorna replied smartly.

Beast became sheepish. "Well that does sound contradictory now that I am hearing it out loud."

A soft sigh slipped out of the Scarlet Witch's lips. "Why are you here, Hank?" Her eyes went over all the so called invaders. "Why are the Avengers with you?"

Her whited haired brother snorted loudly. "It's pretty obvious why they're here, Wanda. Uncle Sam sent them here to check up on us to see if we're hiding our beloved father. That's why you're here right, Summers? The X-Men just came here to check on the children of Magnus to see if they're being good," he sneered.

Cyclops wished Quicksilver could see the glare he was giving him behind the visor. "Like I said we didn't come here for a fight. We're here to implore you to let us stay and help search for Magneto."

"See I told you! They're here because your best buddy the president doesn't trust us to look for father."

"We didn't say that!" Cyclops snapped. He hated that he let Quicksilver get under his skin again. There was a mutual dislike almost board a line hatred between them. Their rivalry was born from the many battles the X-Men and Brotherhood fought. Even after Quicksilver rejected Magneto nothing between them really changed. The only consolation Scott had was that he drove Quicksilver just as nuts he drove Scott nuts.

"You didn't need to." He poked the X leader as hard as he could. The truth was he wanted to get a rise out of Summers. Summers thought he was so perfect. He was Xavier's golden boy. Just like Professor X he had his head stuck up his own ass. Summers looked down on him. He was still looking down on him, expecting him to still be the villain. "You're going to tell me the president didn't send you here to spy on us?"

Scott slapped his rival's hand away. "Why don't you back off Quicksilver!?"

"You going to make me, Summers," he challenged. The redness lit up in Cyclops' visor. Pietro chuckled. This was going be fun.

"Scott," Jean called. "Don't let him suck you in." Scott was normally level headed, which was one of the reasons the professor made him leader. It was because of that level head that Scott could make the tactical decisions he made. Sometimes those decisions were hard or required sacrifice that the rest of the team wasn't always willing to make or agree with. She could recall hand full of times when Scott's decisions had led to confrontation with other members of the team, Logan one of his most frequent opponents, yet Scott took it. Scott could stay calm for the most part.

When Scott lost his temper, when someone got under his skin, his anger exploded in ways that surprised her. Quicksilver was one of the people who could get under Scott's skin almost effortlessly. The last thing they needed was to start the war they were trying to prevent.

Wanda growled at her brother's actions. He never could let go of his rivalry with Scott Summers. Scott was made the leader of the X-Men just as Pietro was made leader of the Brotherhood by Magneto. Continued defeats at the X-Men's hands made Magneto not only lose faith in her brother's leadership abilities but to try to win Scott over to their side and have him replace Pietro as leader. He never really got over that chip on his shoulder. "Stop trying to provoke him. We have bigger concerns than your petty feud with Scott Summers, concerns that don't involve either the X-Men or Avengers." Her tone hardened and became more regal. "The president's concern is noted, but we do not require his assistance and we do not appreciate him sending a team to invade our country. We shall allow you to leave Genosha unharmed this time, but we will not be held responsible for future intrusions."

Scott and Jean protested, but she silenced them with a gesture. "The X-Men are always welcome in Genosha under normal circumstances, but you cannot simply invade our country for the United States and tell us what to do. Charles Xavier has no more say on Genosha's affairs than the president does. Now leave please."

"Wanda." Beast attempted to reason with the mistress of the mutant nation. His words fell short on Scarlet Witch. She was impassive. The blue genius sighed in defeat. He looked to the rest of his party for any suggestions when he saw Captain America stepped up literally.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can't just leave, at least not until you hear us out." The captain made sure to keep his tone respectful. Scarlet Witch was being courteous just as expected of a ruler. She deserved nothing less than that same respect in return. "It is true that the president did ask us to come here, but he didn't send us to invade Genosha as agents of the government. He requested that we come here as an independent party to lend you a hand. He believes you aren't working with Magneto, but there are people who don't share his belief. An emergency meeting of Congress will be held at the end of the week. The president fears they'll vote to invade Genosha. With things the way they are back at home he fears a human-mutant war could break out." Fear took hold of the Scarlet Witch. The regal mask she had worn shattered, leaving an exhausted and young woman. Steve saw the president wasn't the only one straining to burden the weight of a nation.

"I understand why you don't want us here. This is your country. You and your people should have the right to run it a way you see fit. Please believe me when I say that the Avengers and X-Men aren't here to police you for our government. We only want to help avert a war. Please cooperate with us and in return we'll submit to your command." The strong and unflinching ruler she projected to her people and the outsiders vanished. Wanda knew she was exposing her weakness at a time when she could show no vulnerability. Genosha could only be as strong as its ruler. It was her duty to be Genosha's strength. Exposing her weakness exposed Genosha weakness. She failed. Everything they had built was coming apart on the scenes. The threat of war was upon them.

Lorna comforted her elder sister. She never saw Wanda look so exhausted before. Her elder sister always seemed so untouchable. Ever since Wanda became Genosha's ruler her strength and fortitude is what rebuild Genosha into what it was today. Nothing ever touched Wanda or so Lorna thought. "It's alright, Wanda. Everything will be fine." Her words didn't have the effect Lorna wished. Her sister didn't look relieved at all.

"We aren't helping Magneto," Scarlet Witch spoke after gathering her thoughts.

Steve knew she was telling him the truth. He looked into her green eyes and saw nothing, but sincerity in them. She silently pleaded with him to believe her. He said, "I believe you, ma'am." If Tony was here Steve was sure he would have criticized him for trusting the mutant ruler so easily. Steve always put his trust in people and their actions first. What Scarlet Witch did with Genosha proved she was trying to make it a paradise for mutant kind and make peace with the outside world. He owed her the benefit of the doubt. "Please believe me when I say we are here to help."

The super soldier and the mutant ruler formed an unspoken connection. Wanda looked into Captain America's eyes she saw unrivaled strength rooted in compassion. She knew his words were true. "Our communication towers were damaged extensively. All communications on and off Genosha have been down for hours."

"Wanda!" exclaimed Quicksilver. "They're outsiders and you're telling them private matters that concern only Genosha."

"You heard what Captain America just said. Magneto's attack on U.S. government has got them scared enough to invade Genosha. Charles Xavier showed us a future where a war between humans and mutants led to the destruction of both sides. It is now our responsibility to help avert this war and to do that we are going to have to trust them." Pietro still had objections, but didn't vocalize them. She was grateful for that. Wanda was the ruler of Genosha and Pietro did his best not to undermine her authority by constantly questioning her orders. Whatever objections he might have had of her leading Genosha in their father's place he kept them quiet to keep everyone in Genosha unified. He always supported her even if he had misgivings.

"That is why you didn't respond to our calls then," Hank said.

"But the president said he did actually talk to you today," Hawkeye pointed out.

"I did talk to him earlier, but that was before the communication towers were damaged. Actually not long after that transmission the towers were wrecked. Without communications we are forced to use Scanner's power to relay communications for the whole island. She's been a great help, but she is still only one person trying to manage communications of an entire island."

"I don't know. Scanner was passing messages back and forth and still found intruders. I would say she deserves a bonus," Quicksilver joked. It earned him an elbow in the side from Lorna.

"Without communications it is taking more time than it should to search the island for any signs of Magneto," Wanda continued.

"The tower's destruction happened during our father's latest plot. We don't believe that's a coincidence," Lorna explained. "We haven't found any signs of him on the island."

Scarlet Witch huffed. "Of course it's no coincidence. Magneto is behind this," she said bitterly.

Vision took notice of Scarlet Witch's change in demeanor. While she was stern she was well mannered and compassionate when speaking with Captain America. At the mention of Magneto she hardened and became bitter. What was more curious was that while her siblings referred to Magneto as their father she referred to him by name. Vision knew families held great importance to humans. It was one of the values he found admirable. It allowed them to deify their baser instincts of self-preservation to go almost any lengthens to ensure someone else's safety. The Scarlet Witch appeared dismissive of this notion. That was not accurate. He witnessed that she held her brother in great importance. He would be willing to theorize she felt the same way about Lorna. Magneto appeared to be the only family member she did not extend her love to. It puzzled him as to why she was. If he was reading her emotions right there seemed to be resentment there.

"Do you think Magneto had a personal hand in the tower's destruction?" Jean asked.

Lorna shook her head. "There was no sign of magnetism. Believe me I would know if there was."

"Are you expert on magnetism?" Vision asked innocently. A mischievous yet still bashful smirk formed on the green haired woman's face.

"You could say something like that." By twirling her wrist the robotic Avenger was hovering above the group of people. Their intruders turned guests had a different range of reactions. The archer was amused, while Captain America looked troubled at his friend's predicament. Lorna wanted to laugh until she witnessed the disapproving look her elder sister was giving her. Recognizing that look Lorna put the robot down. "I share my father's power of magnetism," she said a little above a whisper. Wanda didn't take her eyes of her for what felt like forever.

When Lorna was sufficiently shamed into acting her age Wanda tore her eyes away from her younger sister. Unknown to her Lorna let out a sigh of relief. "The tower was blown up. We aren't sure if explosives were set or if it was a mutant power, but one thing is certain. The only way for someone to have gotten close enough to the tower to set an explosive device is if they lived on the island."

"You're saying that you have a traitor among your ranks." Cap followed her line of thinking. It wouldn't be outrageous to think there were people on Genosha who were still loyal to the previous ruler.

Scarlet Witch took a deep breath. "There are people who harbor hatred for humanity in general over how they were treated, especially the ones that were originally enslaved by the previous Genoshan government before Magneto's reign. Not everyone agrees with my peaceful approach with humans. It wouldn't take too much prodding to get them to help Magneto. Trying to find someone who would willingly help sabotage the rest of Genosha is difficult."

"Do you have any suspects?" Cyclops questioned.

"There are a few names that come to mind, but we've been so busy with searching that we haven't had enough time for an investigation," she answered.

Knowing glances were shared among the heroes. They each had the same idea. It was Captain America who expressed their idea aloud. "We can lend you a hand in that. We just need you to take us to the tower." She was contemplating his offer carefully. The thought of taking intruders or invaders as her brother called them to one of their essential resources wasn't a favorable one. The captain hoped she had really heard what he said. They weren't enemies. It would be better to ally themselves than to work against each other.

The inner deliberation she had with herself ended when she cleared her throat. "Quicksilver and I will take you to the communication tower. Polaris you stay in the citadel with Scanner and Blink to coordinate the search parties. Domino you take command of the guard in Quicksilver's absence." The rest of the former Brotherhood started stirring. They took their fair share of lumps today, but they were in a state of emergency. She couldn't relieve them. Never the less she ordered them to go to infirmary first before going back on patrol.

Lorna took her aside to talk. The deer caught in headlights expression her younger sister wore told Wanda everything she needed to know. "Don't be nervous. You've had practice at being in command before."

"That's day to day business. We're in a state of emergency. People will want you in command, directing the search parties. They are going to want the great Scarlet Witch not her kid sister who Magneto kept out of the loop."

Wanda was familiar with that downcast face. She had seen it more times than she would have liked. While Magneto had found Pietro and herself when they were young adults he found Lorna when she was just a girl. As a result he treated her as a princess. Magneto kept her from the inner workings of Genosha. He kept Lorna ignorant of what was going on. That made it hard for people to take her seriously. They assumed she was too sheltered to know what was best. Lorna was more capable than most, including herself, realized. She knew of Magneto's more morally questionable actions when they all were charged to keep them from her. She was aware that there was more to Genosha than what Magneto let on. In the end she played a part in stopping Magneto from slaughtering their people.

When Wanda became ruler Lorna took a more active role in their country. She was with Wanda and Pietro every step of the way to rebuilding Genosha. Despite that Lorna still had to fight the stigma of being the sheltered princess. They doubted her leadership. "They might want me, but they are going to get you. Show them what Polaris can do. I know you can do this." Lorna's mood brightened somewhat. While they didn't grow up together she could still cheer her little sister up. A fleeting gaze she left the mistress of magnetism fly on her own. She and Pietro joined the party of heroes.

* * *

Was he making a mistake? Piotr asked himself that question over and over again since they came back. He had reservations about attacking the military base to begin with, but Magneto reasoned that they needed the weapons and it made a statement. That was the reason he was here right. He wanted something different from Professor Xavier's method. He wanted to see results now not twenty years from now. He needed results now. All his years fighting as an X-Man and the world felt no different than it was a decade ago. Things had gotten better for mutants in last few years, but all it took was one story of a mutant misusing their powers and the whole world turned against them in a heartbeat. He was just sick of fighting for people who would turn on him after he saved them.

He was tired of giving up so much and getting so little in return. Piotr knew he was being selfish, but did he have to give up her as well? Part of the reason he fought was to make a better world for her. In the end he had to give up even her just to keep the status quo the same. No, that wasn't right. He was sick of this world. There had to be a better way. There just had to be a better way. That's why he was here. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They weren't supposed to mindlessly slaughter innocent people. Every last person on that base was killed. His allies showed no mercy or remorse. How could they have been so willing to disregard life so easily? Did he have a place among such people?

"Are you still sulking, Colossus?" A scruffy blond haired man walked up. He wore a broad smile that showed off all his pearly whites. His eyes were hidden behind an orange lensed visor. On his back rested a yellow flamethrower. His costume was also flame based, red was the dominate color, but sleeves were orange and in a flame like pattern. The forearms were covered by thick yellow armor meant to house the hose connected to flamethrower.

Piotr groaned inwardly. Pyro had a knack for getting under people's skin. He was in no mood to entertain him.

"Hello? Big guy? Come on you're going to ignore me?" Pyro chuckled, but said nothing else. Piotr took it as a sign that he gotten bored and left. He felt a hard smack on his shoulder. It looked like he would have no such luck. "Nobody likes a brooder. A grown man brooding like some hapless teenage boy frankly looks ridiculous. I don't understand why you are sitting around, shoulders all slumped down, and looking like you just shot your dog or something."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Piotr snapped. Damn Pyro. That grin widened even more. He didn't know it could get any bigger.

"Anger is a lot better than brooding. Why are you even sulking? The mission was successful and we got a lot of fun out of it."

He shoved Pyro off of him, catching the flame manipulator by surprise. "How can you say that was fun? You killed those people."

Pyro shrugged it off. "It was fun. Seeing some of those soldiers jump up and down as they were getting incinerated was pretty damn hilarious." His words didn't lighten Colossus as he hoped. The look the big guy was giving him could kill. "It's a war. There is going to be casualties."

"This isn't a war!" The words came out harsher than he wanted. "Once we got what we wanted we should have left, not raze the entire base."

"That's where you are wrong, Colossus." Cortez of all people appeared. Piotr thought he would still be in conference with Magneto. "This is a war. You're letting that fool Xavier cloud your mind with his naïve teachings. I would have expected you of all people to realize there is no co-existence with the humans. We must rise above those under developed apes if we are ever to have peace. We must fight and keep fighting until the war ends with mutants as the undisputed victors."

"I thought we were doing all of this to avoid a war. The missiles are supposed to be a last resort." Cortez looked at him with contempt yet a strange sense of pity mixed in there. Piotr was unsure if he should be offended or concerned.

"The Great Magneto plans to use them as a last resort, but make no mistake when he reveals his glorious vision the humans will not tolerate it. They will be the first ones to draw blood. We shall have to crush them as the ants they are."

"If everything goes according to plan we won't have to fight them at all," Piotr reminded. There was no pity in the glare Cortez was giving him now. Before he heard his rebuttal a ringing went off. Cortez brought out an oval shaped device that Piotr recognized at a communication device.

"What is it?" Cortez's voice made it clear that whoever contacted him had better had something important to tell.

"We have a problem," a smooth and seething voice spoke. "The Avengers and the X-Men are on Genosha."

"The Avengers and the X-Men!" exclaimed Cortez. Piotr and Pyro were also stunned by this news. He expected his old team to get involved, but not the team deemed Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"Scarlet Witch is leading them to the communication tower to search for clues. If they find anything it could lead them there. What are your orders?" the voice asked.

"You are still at the tower?" The voice said yes. "If it looks like they find anything that could lead them here I want you to attack them. I hate to lose a spy in Genosha, however too much is riding on this."

"Understood," the voice said. The transmission ended.

"Shouldn't you have told Magneto the situation first before giving orders?" Piotr shot the second in command a questioning look.

"Magneto is far too occupied with next phase of the plan to deal with a minor inconvenience. He entrusts me to deal with them. I will inform the master of what is happening. Magneto trusts me so should you Colossus." He turned his back to them and went off. Cortez was overstepping his boundaries. This wasn't the first time he acted on his own without informing Magneto first. The way the man spoke made Piotr feel as if he had to act carefully for fear of being bitten. Cortez was someone he wouldn't turn his back on.

* * *

Pietro insisted on taking the lead and acting as her protector. He wasn't even the older of the twins yet always took it upon himself to take care of her. Years of experience taught Wanda it was best not to waste energy arguing over something so minor. She stayed back and watched her brother have a verbal sparring match with Scott Summers. Jean had the same idea and walked beside her. Both Captain America and Hank McCoy walked a little behind the rivals and ahead of her. Hawkeye and the robotic one that she learned was named Vision were behind them.

"The tower isn't far from the citadel. There was no need for Blink to teleport us there."

"I don't mind a little walk," Jean said.

"That's good otherwise I would fear for the future of the X-Men." Wanda smiled brightly. Marvel Girl's sense of humor was good. She smiled back at her.

"Don't forget who used to beat the Brotherhood regularly," Jean teased right back.

"We won our fair share of those battles," Wanda defended weakly. When Jean stared at her she fell apart. "So maybe the X-Men had more wins than we did, but it was before we mastered our powers." The coy grin plastered on the telepath's face told her that Jean didn't believe her weak excuse. They chatted away, oblivious to the leer filled gaze of Hawkeye.

The sarcastic archer took in the sights. There were worse sights to behold. One of the best of things about the superhero-super villain community was they usually wore tight fitting costumes. Checking out a telepath wasn't the smartest move, so he kept his eye on the Scarlet Witch. The cape concealed her form, but when it swished he could make out her well-formed backside. "What a vision."

"Did you call me?" Vision responded to him, making Clint kick himself for saying that out loud.

"Uh, I was just saying what a vision around us. You know all this nature." God that sounded horrible in his mind. There was no way Vision bought it. The synthezoid's gaze remained on him. He was busted. It was better to come clean. "I was admiring the female beauty." He hoped Vision got that meaning without him needing to explain further.

Following where his eyes were it was easy to deduce that Hawkeye was observing the two women. Vision recalled incidents of Iron Man and Hawkeye admiring the female form when he was in their presence. Often times they were unaware that he noticed. Other times they would explain to him that they admired the female form. Wasp told him that was code for what she called checking out girls. She explained not all women appreciated that type of attention. "Is that appropriate?"

"There is nothing wrong with looking. You just don't touch without permission."

"Generally girls don't like to be ogled at." Jean Grey's voice startled Hawkeye enough to make his heartbeat skip. The telepath looked back at them. The archer tried flashing a charming smile only to have it falter. "You know I could hear your thoughts right? Next time don't think so loudly."

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

"Why don't you come up here, so you're not distracted?" Jean ushered him ahead of her. Hawkeye became dejected, which Jean found it amusing. Scarlet Witch fell back with him for some reason.

"Vision was it?" she asked him.

"Yes, that is my name," he replied politely.

"I wanted to apologize for Lorna demonstrating her powers on you."

"There was no harm done to my body. There is no need to apologize."

Scarlet Witch furrowed her brow. He thought perhaps he had offended her. "Still it is not right for my sister to use her powers on you without your consent. Not misusing our mutant abilities is stressed on Genosha. What might be playful to one person could be seen as assault by another person."

"This philosophy is important to you?"

"It is. Mutant abilities shouldn't be suppressed, but that does not mean they should be used on other people freely either. If humans don't want mutants to abuse them they shouldn't treat them as monsters. In return if mutants don't want humans to harm them they shouldn't abuse them with their powers for personal amusement. It goes both ways."

Her logic was sound, but there was more to it. He could hear conviction tied to her words. It was the same conviction that Captain America had when he fought for the other Avengers against the synthezoid Avengers, Ultron, and himself on his own with nothing, but his valor. It was the human spirit that the captain had mentioned and endeared Vision to the human race. It was the human spirit that burned within the Scarlet Witch. There was much to this woman than what appeared at first. Vision was intrigued. "These are the principles you've instilled into Genosha?"

"Yes it is."

"Your beliefs contrast your father's." He heard her laugh. When he looked at her he saw her face had scrunched up into a menacing expression. Vision was surprised by it. "I am sorry if what I said angered you."

The menacing expression evaporated. "No, you didn't offend me. I am proud to hear that my beliefs are different from his. Magneto's so convinced that a war will happen that he fails to see his actions bring that war closer into reality. He makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believes mutants are superior and will stop at nothing until humans are crushed under his heel. He's wrong. Humans and mutants can co-exist side by side. There doesn't need to be a war at all."

"I can empathize." The words came out his mouth before he thought to say them. Soon he found he had the woman's attention. She sought elaboration from him. "My creator also had a low opinion of the human race and sought destroy and replace them with synthezoids. He failed to see that while humans are flawed they also have admirable qualities. He created me to be his perfect vision of the future. His vision was a world without biological life, while I believe a true perfect vision of the future will include all forms of life. That is why I joined the Avengers. I want to help protect life to help make that vision a reality"

"It would seem we have something in common, Vision."

"It would appear that we do, Scarlet Witch."

Life was strange. She found herself to have more in common with this android than say her brother. Pietro was always there to lend a hand or give her an ear to listen to, but at times he couldn't relate to her. While he turned against their father as she and Lorna did after the Sentinel incident he still didn't believe in co-existence between humans and mutants. He worked to keep Genosha safe and free for all mutants, but didn't see the need for trying to bring about co-existence. Vision understood where she was coming from though. He shared a similar goal. He understood the value of life. How strange it was for her to find a kindred spirit with him.

"Here we are." She heard her brother say. They were already at the communication tower and she hadn't realized it. The once proud tower that extended to the heavens was nothing more than disassembled wreck with scattered parts and pieces all over the land. The base of the tower was intact, but it had lost more than half its height in the explosion. It was a shadow of what it once was. Guarding the base of the tower was Senyaka, a man who shrouded from head to toe in dark and red robes. To his right there was the man beast like Spoor.

"Mistress," they said in unison. They bowed to their ruler. Neither one of them questioned her about the appearance of the X-Men and the Avengers.

"Have you found anything in the wreckage that could help identify our bomber?" she questioned them. They didn't give her the response she hoped for. They were no closer to solving this mystery than they were this morning.

Steve looked to the newest Avenger. "Vision, you think your scanners could give us some answers?"

Wordless Vision followed the request. He activated his scanners and surveyed the wreckage. "My analysis should be completed in five minutes," he announced.

"While Vision scans the area we should search for physical evidence the old fashion way," Steve told the rest of the group.

Pietro scoffed at the living legend's order. "Why do it the old fashion way when I can do it in a flash?" Quicksilver became a blur. He easily used his super human speed blow past the entire group. Too fast for the human eye to see the former Brotherhood member searched the half destroyed tower and returned before anyone could blink. The white haired man wore look that begged anyone to challenge his greatness. In his right hand was a handheld remote device. He carelessly tossed the remote to the super soldier. "I think this is what you were looking for, old man. Five minutes was too long for me to wait for the tin man."

Quicksilver was as arrogant as Tony was on his worst day. The kid knew he was good, which made his arrogance even worse. Steve could tell he was more than a handful for his allies. Lord knew how he would be under someone else's command. Despite his attitude he had to admit the kid had done a good job. He passed the device to Vision. "Quicksilver made your job easier."

"I concur." Scanning the device only took seconds as oppose to the minutes it would have taken him to scan the entire area. He got the type of explosive device the remote was for. They could at least eliminate the possibility of the explosion being a mutant ability. "I am able to detect the residue from the explosion. The residue is most likely on the culprit who set the explosive. We can follow the residue to….Aaaaahhhhh!" A surge of electricity coursed through his whole body overwhelming his sensors and circuits. The synthezoid felt consciousness fading. He fell to the ground to shock of the heroes and former villains.

Before they could digest Vision's fall their ears were filled with the screams of Quicksilver. His body quaked before he too fell. Standing behind the son of Magneto was Senyaka with a whip created from pure energy in his hand a downed Spoor.

No one was as shocked as Wanda was. She couldn't believe her eyes. Senyaka was one of Genosha's most devoted followers. He had been one of her strongest supporters and trusted allies. Yet the evidence was right before her eyes. "How can you betray us?"

"Forgive me mistress. I have pledged my services to you, but I owe your father my life." He thrust the whip at her. Scarlet Witch evaded it in spite of her shock.

"Bad move." Hawkeye fired an arrow. The whip slashed through the arrow in mid-air. Senyaka retaliated with a lash. Hawkeye mounted a defense by using his bow to take the lash. Unfortunately for him Senyaka charged electrical energy into the bow through his whip. Clint suffered from a bad shock that left his body reeling on the ground in agony.

Cyclops shot his optic blast next, but the traitor's reflexes proved too keen. He easily dodged the blast. Senyaka ensnared the unconscious Spoor in his whip and with strength that surpassed his physique he tossed him at the X leader. Cyclops was forced to fall to the ground to avoid the body hurled at him. Senyaka hadn't stayed around to see it. He fled. "After him!" screamed Cyclops.

"Be careful not to let him touch you," Wanda warned. "His mutant power allows him to drain the bio-electric essence of anyone to increase his own physical abilities and use that energy to create his whip."

"We just don't have to let him touch us. Got it," Steve said as if it was simplest thing in the world. He took chase with Cyclops and Beast. Jean and Wanda made sure that downed heroes were doing well.

"I'll watch them." Jean assured the ruler of Genosha. "You go after him." Jean wanted to go with the others, but she could sense the betrayal and anger boiling within Wanda getting ready to burst. She knew from personal experience that anger was best directed at the enemy. The shift in Wanda from worried sister to determined avenger was sudden. For a second Jean pitted Senyaka.

* * *

Captain America's back was slammed into ground by the annoying bio whip. They outnumbered him three to one, but soon discovered that their greater numbers mattered very little. In the face of Senyaka's whip they were given more trouble than they expected. He kept them at bay. Cyclops was their best chance of touching him, but Senyaka proved to be agile. Optic blasts missed their target. When Captain America tried throwing his shield it was slapped away from its target. With no defense star spangled Avenger was hit by the whip and shocked before getting slammed to the ground.

Beast stampeded straight at their assailant in a direct path. Senyaka was baffled at why the X-Man would stupidly rush at him. He left himself right open for attack. Senyaka struck his whip only for a red blast to knock it away. He looked off to see the crouching form of Cyclops station behind Beast. Senyaka understood the reason for the Beast's boldness. The blue mutant was upon him. He lifted the dark robbed man above his head and hurled him down the ground as hard as he could.

"Is he down?" Scott asked Hank. He was answered by a blood churning roar. "Hank!" He watched his old friend fall to his knees while Senyaka rose unblemished and unwounded.

"Nice try," Senyaka taunted.

This was nearly impossible. Senyaka could absorb bio electrical essence to increase his durability. Any normal man thrown by Hank with that much force would probably be lucky to remain conscious let alone get up. Captain America at least got back to his feet with his shield back in his hands. "We can't hold back. He absorbed essence of both Quicksilver and Beast he won't go down easily."

"Do you think you can keep his whip away from me?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. It worked with Hank, but he hadn't been expecting it. Now he'll watch out for it. We need something else to surprise him."

"Leave this to me."

The two leaders saw Scarlet Witch arrive. Her arrival ushered in a storm of tranquil fury. Both men could see it within her emerald eyes. Her hands were engulfed in bright red light. She calmly walked past the two men without so much as sparing them a look. Her entire focus was on Senyaka. He flung the whip at her almost hastily. He didn't want her get near him. Senyaka still possessed enough sense to realize what he was up against.

Wanda hurled a hex bolt to the ground. The earth sprang up before her. It acted as a wall, shielding her from the whip. She threw another hex blowing the pillar of earth to bits. Senyaka had created a second whip in his left hand. He lashed it at her still not realizing the futility of his actions. Wanda continued walking down the path only hurling her hexes at the ground he stood upon. She watched with cold satisfaction as the ground gave away and Senyaka nearly fell. This threw his aim off and the whip hit the ground to her right.

While it was amusing to see the traitor dangling now was not the time to torture him. He destroyed a tower, put her people in danger, he betrayed her trust, and helped that man destroy everything they had been working for. He would suffer her wrath. She would not be merciful. Scarlet Witch threw hexes on his whips and watched them wrap themselves around him. Another hex made the whips pump full of the stolen bio electricity. His screams were music to her ears. She wasn't merciful today, not for one who betrayed all of her country. The distance between them was small that she could reach out and touch him.

"You should have known better than to anger me. You have forgotten just how terrible I can really be." She slammed a final hex his chest. He betrayed her, so she made his power betray him. The bio electricity zapped his body before leaving him to return to their rightful owners. Senyaka collapsed. His body battered, spirit drained, and his mind blank. He still clung to consciousness. He desperately tried to reach out for what she didn't know. She would give him something for his troubles. Her boot slammed against his face. He was knocked unconscious.

Steve was stunned by the display of power he had witnessed. Words failed him. Scarlet Witch was beautiful as storm and just as deadly.

Scott couldn't blame the captain for being left shocked. He had seen Wanda's powers numerous times and even he was amazed by what she could do at times. She changed from the girl who could barely control the bad luck she threw at others way. "Wanda's mutant ability is to manipulate probability with hex bolts. She can make the least likely thing happen. When her powers are really unleashed it can be something else."

"They sure can." It was the only thing Steve could think to say. Beast recovered remarkably fast. He suspected Scarlet Witch had something to do with that. They carried the unconscious Senyaka back to the tower. Their friends were recovering or recovered. Clint was nursing his head. Quicksilver and Vision were both up and running. Jean hovered over them still unsure if they were really in good shape.

Senyaka was carelessly dropped by a still unforgiving Beast. "What happened to robes?" Jean asked.

"Wanda," Scott replied. That satisfied Jean's questions. She didn't ask any for any more information on Senyaka's condition.

"Do you think you can look through his head?" Steve asked the telepath.

Jean inspected their unwilling subject. "Let's find out," she said. Her psychic probing began. Cyclops informed him that it would take Jean time to pluck out information. Steve decided to use the time to make sure his teammates were fine.

"Vision, Hawkeye, are you two doing well?"

"As soon as the ringing stops I'll let you know." Clint's head was still killing him. He needed some aspirin.

"I rebooted not long after you left. The electrical surge caught me by surprise, but it was not enough to cause any permanent damage."

"The robot is fine," Quicksilver groaned. His sister was by his side ready to help him should he need anything. "It's not like it matters though. If he gets toasted you can just make a new one."

"Stow that talk. Vision is not just some disposable toy," Captain America snarled with an uncharacteristic edge to his voice.

"He's a robot. You can't possibly think he's a person," Quicksilver argued.

"Pietro," Scarlet Witch chastised.

"What it's true."

The super soldier was livid. How dare he belittle Vision's life as nothing more than a broken device? He was much more than that. Vision had a heart. He wouldn't stand for anyone who belittled that. He was about open his mouth Jean Grey's voice cut in.

"I know where Magneto is," she said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers or the X-Men in any shape or form. They all belong to Marvel.**

* * *

"Let me get this straight, Grey. My father has a flying fortress hovering above all our heads without a single one of the thousands of mutants that live on this island so much as catching a glimpse of it. It has a cloaking device so advances that none of our instruments at the citadel can detect it. He is arming it with stolen nuclear missiles as we speak getting ready for Armageddon." Pietro eyed the resident red haired psychic from his seat on the Blackbird.

"Yes," Jean said. She sounded exasperated and she didn't care to conceal that fact. After probing Senyaka's mind Jean learned Magneto had a new mobile base of operations that he just recently gotten operational. It was a flying fortress as Quicksilver had so elegantly put it that was the size of a small country. The master of magnetism had been secretly raiding his old lab in Genosha to make the finishing touches to his fortress without anyone being the wiser. He was hiding in plain sight. After this revelation they rushed back to the Blackbird and Quinjet.

"It's just like I told you, Quicksilver. Magneto has been working on this fortress for months. He's been hiding it here on Genosha so he can use his labs." Jean had bigger concerns on whether or not Quicksilver believed her story. It was up to her to telepathically search for any mind on this fortress just to find it. Senyaka didn't have all the answers. No doubt it was percussion in case a telepath probed him. "I don't know how he did it, because Senyaka doesn't know how he did it."

"Alright," Pietro said plainly. She looked dumbstruck at his nonchalant response. He shrugged not seeing the big deal. "If you say he did it he probably did it. It's not like my father hasn't kept secrets from us before."

"If you believed me why did you seem doubtful?" Jean remarked.

"I just wanted make sure." He flashed his best sheepish smile. It didn't save him from Grey's death glare. Pissing off a psychic who could make him think he was an eight-year old boy wasn't the brightest idea.

"Let her concentrate," Scott said. He piloted the Blackbird. "If Magneto is shielding his base from telepaths Jean will need all her attention focused on her psychic probe." The white haired speedster scoffed at his words, despite them being reasonable.

"I get it, Summers. There no need to start with the lectures." Pietro leaned back in his seat. The chairs were very comfortable. They even reclined. He supposed these were the perks of being funded by an extremely wealthy benefactor. "I will give you X-Men credit for this at least, you have the best toys." It was like he was sitting on a cloud. He could get used to this. "How is it going over there, Beast?"

Off to the side Hank was at his makeshift work station fiddling with one of his devices. Pietro's words failed to register with the blue mutant. He was engrossed with his work so completely that he was in his own world. For Magneto to have a fortress that could escape the Blackbird's radar meant that they needed something more powerful, a boost or another sensor if they wanted any hope of locating it. Creating something like that from scratch could take weeks. If he had Forge with him it would probably take him a day or two. Unfortunately he had neither Forge with him nor time on his side. Senyaka's attack meant that Magneto knew they were on Genosha. He could easily leave before the day was over, before Hank could even finish a new tracking system. That is where Vision came in. Vision possessed a wide range of sensors that would eliminate more 80 percent of his work. All Hank needed to do was build something to boost them and they could find this flying fortress without a breaking a sweat.

"Alright if I tinker with this for a bit than I should increase the power by at least 20 percent and….Ah there we go. Excellent! The power increased by 25 percent. That should definitely allow for a wider scan of frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Now to adjust this so I can account for sound waves."

"He can't hear me at all can he?" Pietro asked not really expecting to get an answer.

"When Hank works on a project he might as well be a million miles away," Scott replied.

"How far along is Dr. McCoy?" Captain America asked over the radio. The Avengers and Scarlet Witch took the Quinjet. Since Iron Man had recently upgraded the stealth mode on the Quinjet it was decided to have it remain hidden to keep an ace up their sleeve. The Blackbird would act as the decoy and draw attention away from it or so they hoped.

"He says he still has a little more work to put on it, Captain," Cyclops answered the Avengers' leader.

It wasn't the answer Steve wanted to hear. He didn't like flying around blind. He trusted Tony's work, but he still didn't want to test just how well the new stealth mode performed under the threat of being blown out of the sky by a sky fortress. "Keep us posted, Cyclops."

Vision had done his part by connecting to the Quinjet. He linked his sensors with its. Once Beast completed his gadget it would link to Vision to give his sensors enough of boost to find this invisible flying base.

"When Beast finishes his gadget it will be able to wirelessly link with you?" Clint looked to his synthetic friend.

"That is correct. When Dr. McCoy is finished I will be able to find the frequency it is running on to link with it."

While Hawkeye accepted Vision's words Scarlet Witch had her misgivings about the plan. How safe could it be for him to link up with a slapped together gadget? She knew Beast was a genius, but he was working with spare parts the X-Men had in their jet. "Are you certain that being linked to both Beast's device and this jet's systems will not harm you?" He had taken the full brunt of Senyaka's attack. Unlike everyone else no one had looked at Vision. They took his word when asked if he was injured. It could be possible that he sustained damage that even he was unaware of.

"I am positive. My systems were designed to interface with the most powerful of systems. The Quinjet and Dr. McCoy's scanner are well within my ability to manage." Scarlet Witch was still apprehensive from what he could tell. She was concerned about him, even though they had just met. He was honored she would extend her kindness to him. It was rare for people to see him as more than a mindless machine outside of his teammates and even they thought the same thing before they had gotten to know him. "Thank you for your concerns, Scarlet Witch. I can assure you that I will be fine" He tried to summon his most reassuring tone and smiled. Oddly enough it had a bit of an effect. The mutant ruler's face lightened up. Unlike her brother she didn't regard him as just replaceable machine.

Jean wasn't picking up on anything remotely close to Magneto or his followers. All she was getting was stray thoughts from her teammates and other random people on the island. She threw her arms up in defeat. "It's no use I can't find anything! No matter how much I expand my search I can't hear any of their thoughts!" Just as her frustrations rose she felt a soft, but firm squeeze on her hand. She didn't need to look or read minds to know who it was. He was always there when she needed him.

"Hey don't beat yourself up. Remember the professor couldn't find Magneto with Cerebro. It was a long shot to think Magneto didn't shield his whole base from telepathic probes."

She knew he was right, but it didn't make her feel better. She still felt like she let the team down. "Everything is up to Hank and Vision. I didn't want to put all pressure on them, because I blew it."

"You didn't blow it. You can't do everything on your own. That's why we're a team. We help each other whenever we can." He flashed a small smile at her. "You'll get your chance to help out when we get there." When he saw that bashful smile appear on her lips he knew she was out of her funk. There was his Jean.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better." Her voice was low enough for only him to hear. She felt him tighten his grip on her hand. Warmth spread through her chest.

The moment passed as soon as they heard Beast exclaim, "Success!" Three heads shot around. He had been so quiet before that the sudden outburst alarmed them. Beast however picked up their alarmed faces and looked embarrassed. "Sorry. I let my enthusiasm get away from me. I have finished it." He proudly showed off his recently completed project. It wouldn't win any beauty contests, but the important thing was that it worked. All he needed to do was start it up. To his joy it was up and running.

"Captain America, Hank's done. Vision just has to link up to it," Cyclops radioed over.

"Copy that Blackbird," Captain America radioed back. "Vision, you're up."

It only took seconds for Vision to find the frequency. He noticed the changes to his sensors immediately. The range was far more expanding than before. Countless colors came to life before his eyes, each one of them representing a different energy signature or wave length. He could detect a pin in the near limitless sky if he needed to. Combined with the Quinjet's system his range was all encompassing. It wasn't long before his newly upgraded sensors picked up an unusual signature.

"I have found something."

"I see it too," Clint said. The archer sat on the monitor and acted as navigator. "It looks big…" he trailed off. He couldn't believe his eyes. Damn. He knew today was going to a bad day. "When I said big I think I was underselling it."

That never sounded good. In all the battles Steve had fought he learned that whenever a weapon or force had exceeded expectations that he was walking into a hell itself. Common sense told to remain silent, but he knew that walking in blind was more foolish. He needed something to go on. "How much did you undersell it?"

The question was answered, but not by Hawkeye. The Quinjet and Blackbird passed through an unknown field, following the coordinates that Vision had acquired. The instruments wailed so loud that it nearly caused ear drums to erupt. The pain their ears felt was forgotten instantly. Before all their eyes was a massive fortress constructed entirely of metal. Captain America could barely believe his eyes. He never thought he would ever see a ship so enormous in his life time. No, it wasn't a ship. Calling it a ship would indeed be underselling it. The metal fortress blanketed the sky and covered both ships in its equally massive shadow.

Clint replied, "I mean it makes the Helicarrier look small." The archer had seen his fair share of strange and unusual. Hell he fought old Nazis, mutated monsters, gods, aliens, and planet eating monsters, but what he was looking at now still stole his breath away. The Avengers, X-Men, and Magneto's own children were all equally frozen in a state of combined terror and astonishment. Today was going to be a very, very bad day. Why did he get out of bed that morning?

"How could Magneto make something like this without the rest of the world knowing?" Scott wondered aloud. Clearly their old enemy had been keeping himself busy since their last battle with him.

"Fascinating," Hank whispered to himself, in childlike astonishment. They were witnessing the largest man made air craft in human history with their very own eyes. As Hawkeye said it had far surpassed the former largest air craft, Shield's Helicarrier. Truly this was one of the most pivotal moments in humankind. The question was would it be remembered for extraordinary promise that human ingenuity possessed or for future atrocities it could commit. "An aircraft of this magnitude would take years to construct even with an army of engineers, at least under normal circumstances. I suspect Magneto's power over magnetism allowed him to reduce that time considerably."

Pietro snorted. "I'll say. I never thought the old man could pull something like this off. He has a battle fortress, ready to take on the world. He armed it to the teeth with a few nukes to boot. He could take over the world if he wanted to."

"How do we take something that big down?" Jean voiced the question no one thought to ask. They were all impressed by Magneto's new toy, but the fact of the matter was they were going to have to bring it down. They couldn't trust their old enemy to keep his hands on that monstrous fortress. To her distress none of her teammates or allies had an answer for her.

Suddenly a violent quake rocked the Blackbird and it occupants. "Keep it straight, Summers!" Pietro complained. He saw Cyclops struggled with the controls. The speedster knew that his rival wasn't behind the Blackbird's quaking.

"It's not me!" the X leader shouted. No matter how much he pulled on the wheel it wouldn't budge. "I've lost total control!" The Blackbird was pulled toward the fortress. "Looks like you're about to get a family reunion sooner than you thought, Quicksilver."

"I'm just so giddy about it," Pietro quipped.

They watched as the Blackbird was drawn to the enemy fortress. Captain America expected for the Quinjet to follow suit, but to his relief control remained with him. Tony's upgrade on the stealth mode had indeed shielded them from radar. Magneto didn't know they were there, which meant the element of surprise was on their side still. He wasn't about to let this opportunity pass them by. "Cyclops, do you read me?"

"I read you, Captain. Communication is still up and running." At least that was working Cyclops thought.

"Magneto hasn't detected us just yet. We're going to follow you and see where he takes you."

"Then when we are dragged in you'll come in right behind us," Cyclops finished the captain's thoughts. "We'll let them take us to Magneto and you'll follow us and we can all strike together."

"Exactly," Steve said. His counterpart on the X team had a strategic mind. "If you just give us a frequency for your communicators we'll be able to track you from there."

"There is no need. Jean will open a psychic link that should do the trick. This way they can't find any radio frequency were using." Steve still wasn't a fan of the psychic links, but Cyclops reasoning made sense. They all agreed to it. Of course that left Vision as the odd one out. That problem solved itself when Scarlet Witch volunteered to keep him in the loop.

The X-leader stopped fighting the controls and allowed the invisible force to pull their ship. The Avengers followed after them. It was tricky to leave enough distance between them that they weren't slipped up by anything unexpected, but still be close enough that they weren't left behind. The doors to the docking bay opened up. The Blackbird's speed or the speed of the magnetic force pulling them increased. Steve's fear of falling behind almost became reality. Fortunately enough his reflexes were fast enough to increase the Quinjet's speed enough to keep up.

"As soon as we get in there we are on radio silence," Steve declared. "Jean will open a link for us and we'll go from there."

Wanda turned to Vision. "Don't worry. I will make sure to keep you informed as I promised."

Vision had no fears that Scarlet Witch would keep her promise. She had proven herself trustworthy. "I have no concerns," he revealed to the mutant ruler. Apparently his response brought out another smile from her. It was unusual yet welcome. He noted that she had a fine smile.

Clint noticed the interaction between his synthetic friend and the former X-Men villain. It was a bit odd. Unlike her brother she didn't treat Vision like some machine. If he didn't know any better he would sworn there was affection in her gaze. That was absurd, wasn't it? Some things were just too weird to think about.

* * *

Both jets entered the docking bay without problems. In addition to the Quinjet's stealth mode it had the best cloaking function that Stark Industries could buy. They wouldn't just be invisible to radar, but also the naked eye. That was proven when they landed behind the Blackbird the group awaiting them hadn't even so much as spared a glance in their direction. Now all the Avengers had to do was wait and hope.

The X-Men and Quicksilver left the jet without delay. With a welcoming party expecting them they couldn't afford to show any resistance unless they wished for the Blackbird to sustain any damage and possibly hinder their escape later. Upon their departure they were greeted by a party of five. Some faces were familiar, others were unknown.

Pyro was expected. He had been one of Magneto's followers ever since the master of magnetism had taken over Genosha. There was a reptilian mutant with dark green skin, razor sharp teeth, and claws to go with the appearance. Next to the lizard mutant was a mountain of man who towered over everyone present. He was bald, but had muscles that were the size of a head. He wore a sleeves black uniform with gold colored shoulder pads. Running down the middle of his chest was red V shape. He wore red gloves. He wasn't very attractive, but he was not ugly either. His mean demeanor gave him to impression of a thug. The last two the X-Men were very familiar with.

It was unexpected to see Wolverine's archenemy, Sabertooth among the group, but compared to the last of the five it was dull. Cyclops couldn't believe his eyes. Jean and Beast were horrified. The final member of Magneto's latest group wasn't some enemy they had fight before or even an unknown mutant that he had found. Staring at them was a dear friend and trusted ally. "Colossus!" exclaimed Jean.

"What are you doing here?" Scott blurted out. He still couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't want to believe his eyes. "Are you with them? Did you actually join up with Magneto?" Colossus didn't acknowledge him. He refused to meet Scott's gaze. That was when he knew it wasn't a mistake or misunderstanding. Colossus really had joined with Magneto. Anger rushed over the normally stoic X-Man. Colossus had betrayed them. Piotr had forsaken them and chose to ally himself with one of their most powerful and hated enemies. He sided with the man who had turned Sentinels on both mutant and human kind, the man who almost strong armed him into joining the Brotherhood by threatening their friends, the man who nearly killed them all on several separate occasions. "How can you work for Magneto!?" he cried.

"We aren't here to answer your questions, X-Man," the lizard mutant said. "Now where are the others?"

"The other X-Men aren't here," Cyclops answered briskly. The X leader was still hot from Colossus' betrayal. "They are out on other missions. It is just the four of us."

The lizard mutant scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he snapped.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cyclops insisted.

"Don't play dumb. We know the Avengers were with you. Why aren't they here now?"

There was no use denying the Avengers were with them. Senyaka had obviously shared that much information with them. It looked like they would have to be more creative. "We split up on the island to search for you," he lied. "We weren't sure where you were. Splitting up to search for you was the best option. The plan was when one of us found any sign of your whereabouts we would contact each other and go in together." All things considering he was proud at his story. It wasn't farfetched at all and he had a pretty good poker face according to Gambit.

The lizard mutant continued to scowl at him. He didn't trust Scott's story, but he couldn't find any fault with it. He turned his attention away from Scott and put it on Jean. He wasn't worried. Jean could be convincing when she needed to be. "I'm supposed to believe you didn't contact them when we pulled you in here?" he snarled at her.

"Believe what you want believe," Jean stated boldly, not showing an ounce of fear. "I already contacted them before we got here. The more time you waste questioning us the more time you give them to find us." She had tripped him up. Their scaly friend hadn't considered that she would say she contacted them. Now the realization that the Avengers could be on their way would hit him. The longer he stayed there trying to find holes in their story the more time he gave to their supposed backup to find them. He wouldn't question Hank or Pietro now. That was good news. Hank wasn't always the best at improvising. With a keen nose like Sabertooth there they couldn't afford to have a change in scent tipping their enemies off.

"You hear that lizard lips?" Quicksilver spoke with same elegant wit and arrogance that he was known for. "Wanda and the Avengers are already on their way. It makes no difference if you keep playing 20 questions with us or not. They're going to get here and stop my dear old father form his latest Saturday morning scheme."

For once Scott was grateful for Quicksilver's smartass mouth. He succeeded at convincing their captor that they were being truthful and angered him by ridiculing Magneto. "Delgado, Sabertooth, Colossus, Pyro, restrain them. We're taking them to the master."

Sabertooth slapped metallic cuffs onto Jean's hands. He purposely dug his claws into her forearms, causing her physical discomfort. Hearing his girlfriend wince flared Scott up, but the giant of a man, who he thought was Delgado, made sure to restrain him before he could even think to do anything rash. Pyro had Beast and Colossus was tasked with cuffing Quicksilver.

"Seriously," the son of Magneto snorted. "You are aware my mutant power allows me to move faster than the speed of sound? I can pick the key to these things and be out of them in the time it takes you to blink," he boasted with his trade mark smirk.

The lizard mutant flashed a cocky smirk of his own. "We are well aware of your speed, Quicksilver. That's why these cuffs have explosive placed in them." The smirk fell instantly from Quicksilver. He was glad to see the arrogance evaporate from the younger man. "They were armed as soon as you were cuffed. Just using the key won't disarm them. It is voice activated. If the deactivation code isn't spoken in ten seconds they explode automatically. Not even you're fast enough to out run an explosion point blank."

Pietro took offense at his speed being dismissed so easily, but the truth was he wasn't sure if he could outrun the explosion point blank. He wasn't eager to try it. He held his tongue back in an uncharacteristic move.

Satisfied at Quicksilver's silence the lizard mutant activated his communicator. "Mellencamp to Cortez," he spoke into the communicator.

"This is Cortez. What is it, Mellencamp? Do you need back up?"

"Negative. We have the X-Men and Quicksilver, but the Avengers and Scarlet Witch aren't with them. According to them they split up to search for us, but the telepath contacted them when we pulled them in. I'm not entirely sure if they are being truthful, but to play it safe we may want to relocate the base."

"Understood," Cortez said. "Bring them to the master. By the time you get here we will have left Genosha air space and avoid the Avengers. The master will get the truth out of our prisoners."

"We are on our way," the lizard mutant, identified as Mellencamp said. The followers of Magneto marched with their prisoners out. The hangers were empty for everyone except for the cloaked Avengers. Several minutes passed before the corky quartet emerged from the Quinjet.

"So far so good," Clint remarked. "This plan might actually work after all, old man."

Captain America chose to ignore Hawkeye's remark and focus on the mission at hand. "Jean's psychic link is up and running. I'll take lead. Hawkeye you watch our rear. Scarlet Witch you make sure to stick close to Vision and guide him. Remember to move covertly. Let's move out people." They got into their positions seamlessly and moved out as one. He was impressed about how easily Scarlet Witch blended in with them. This was going to work. One way or another they were going to make this work. He wasn't going to let another war happen, not this time.

* * *

"Where is the runt?" Sabertooth finally asked. "I expected him to be here." Working for Magneto wasn't his idea of a good time. He could barely stand the preachy and self-righteous old bastard. The reason he agreed to be one of Magneto's Acolytes was because it put him in direct opposition of Wolverine. He couldn't miss an opportunity to kill his old enemy.

"Sorry, looks like you're out of luck," Jean answered. "Logan's out on another mission."

"Typical. Oh well, I guess I'll make due with you." Sabertooth ran his clawed fingers across her throat. "He's got a soft spot for you. I could rip out that pretty little throat of yours and send it to him." He loved that idea. It had proven effective of tormenting Wolverine before. He would never forget the runt's face when he saw Silver Fox's broken and lifeless body. The anguish Wolverine felt brought great joy to Sabertooth. If red could elicit even half of that he would call this trip worth it.

She could hear every twist thought and sense all the perverse delights they gave Sabertooth. It made Jean sick to her stomach. He was every bit as monstrous as his appearance. Unlike Logan he relinquished any shred of his humanity long ago. He wanted frighten her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction.

"Come on red. Let's hear you scream." She didn't respond. Red was tough. That was fine with him. It just made breaking her more fun. "I can make you scream. The things I could do would make that pretty little head of yours spin. It might not be all bad. Hell, you might even enjoy it."

Sabertooth's actions failed to get a rise out of Jean, but they did enrage Cyclops. He wanted to kill Sabertooth. He understood why Wolverine hated him with such passion. There was nothing decent within him. He had no boundaries or limits. To see that creature's hands around Jean's neck, not knowing if they would squeeze the life out of her or not sickened and frightened him at the same time. "Hands off her, Creed!"

"Ooh scary," mocked Sabertooth. "Look at slim puffing his chest out trying to protect his woman. You're such the big hero. Oh please. You are so pathetic it's not even funny. I'll gut you after I get down with your woman that way you get the pleasure of seeing all the wonderful things I plan on doing with her."

Visibly shaking with fury Scott tried to lash out, but was held back by his captor. Sabertooth laughed at his struggle to break free. He would give him something to laugh about. As soon as the big guy let his guard down he would blast Sabertooth all the way to the moon. Who would be laughing then?

Just to annoy the X leader he ran a hand through red's hair only to have it stopped. Sabertooth looked up he saw an unamused Colossus. "That's enough." His voice was steady, but the words were full of explosive rage not unlike Cyclops'. "You will not lay one finger on any of them."

"You better move your hand junior or I'll rip it off." Sabertooth glared back at the younger man. Colossus met it head on with a death glare of his own. He refused to be intimidated. It both amused and angered Sabertooth. He bore his claws, while metal spread across Colossus' skin. Before the two mutants could come to blows Mellencamp intervened.

"Both of you stand down. Master Magneto does not tolerate fighting amongst his Acolytes."

"I don't give a shit," Sabertooth snarled. "If junior here wants a fight I'll give him a fight. I doubt Magneto will care if I kill an X-Men."

"Former X-Men," Mellencamp corrected. "Colossus is one of us now."

"He could have fooled me. Look at how he protects them. The kid is still one of Xavier's lapdogs," Sabertooth sneered.

"I don't like unnecessary cruelty," Piotr announced. "What you were doing was uncalled for. You are monster, Sabertooth. I may have to tolerate you, but I will never indulge or allow you to satisfy your sick desires." Piotr expected to see him bear his teeth or even to pounce on him. He didn't expect was to see the animalistic mutant to laugh.

"You are hilarious junior. You are really something else. For making me laugh you get to live." He patted Colossus on the shoulder and walked away, leaving the Russian mutant confused. He succeeded in getting the beast to stop harassing Jean. His old friend was more than capable of taking care of herself it still bothered him to see Sabertooth paw at her. Jean deserved better than that. Delgado passed by him with Cyclops in toe. He shared a look with look with his former leader. Cyclops offered his thanks with a smile.

* * *

The rest of the trip went without incident. Beast was fascinated at the size of the vessel and all advanced technology that Magneto had horded over the years. It was an impressive sight. If the owner wasn't a mutant supremacist who wanted to see the human race crushed the fortress would be an inspiring sight. They were taken to what they assumed was the bridge of the vessel. It was by far the most impressive sight they had seen yet. It was a sight right out of science fiction space ships. Everything was cold and sterile with metallic appearance. The control panels looked futuristic.

In the center of it all was Magneto along with another one of his flunkies. The master of magnetism had his back toward them. Once they approached he turned to face them. There was no distain or even anger present on his face. Magneto almost looked jolly. The other man was a different story. He didn't conceal his contempt for them at all. The way he looked at them they were diseased dogs. "Welcome," Magneto said happily.

"Never thought I would see the day my father would welcome me," Quicksilver expressed disbelief.

Magneto heard his son, but he only smiled. "While we may not always see eye to eye it is good to see you again, Pietro. I only wish our reunion could have been under more pleasant circumstances."

Pietro rolled his eyes. His father was so full of it. He always tried to present himself as benevolent figure when he was anything, but that. He saw his father's true colors when he unleashed Sentinels on their people. "You have funny way of showing it, father. You have your latest Brotherhood goons slap cuff that will explode if I make a wrong move."

"I assure you it is only a necessary measure," Magneto urged. "I cannot have you running amok now can I?"

"Oh no, you can't have that. It is perfectly alright for you to have this thing in Genosha air space though, but I forgot how hypocrisy is your bread and butter." That wiped the smile off his father's face and put one on his.

"Insolent brat!" hollered Cortez. "Make no mistake, just because you are the master's son does not give you the right to speak to him with such disrespect."

Pietro chuckled. His father's new yes man was an even bigger tool than Summers. "Where do you find these guys?" he asked Magneto, ignoring the man. The son of Magneto was backhanded by the man. The blow was strong enough to push his face. It stung something fierce. He made a note that the new guy had anger issues.

Fuming Cortez scowled at the defiant fool. "You will learn respect boy or I shall teach it to you." He raised his hand again he found he could not move it. When he looked for the cause he found a piece of metal had fashioned itself on his hand and kept him in place. The jolly expression had been broken. Simmering rage replace it on the master of magnetism's face. Recgonizing that expression Cortez swallowed his tongue. "F-forgiving me, Great Magneto. I do not know my place."

"No, you do not." Magneto's tone was low, but radiated with restraint rage. "You will not strike my son again."

"Yes, master. Please forgive me." Cortez got on his knees and begged. The metal restraint was lifted it and his master's expression became jolly once more. He despised that he was reduced to groveling on his knees. It was unbecoming of him. Part of him resented Magneto for doing that to him.

Magneto returned his attention to his wayward son. "Do forgive Cortez. He can become a bit overzealous in our cause."

"You mean the cause that had you steal nuclear missiles," Scott spoke up.

Their old enemy was still in good nature and grinned at the response. "Straight forward as always I see. I did admire that quality in you Cyclops." He did curse how Charles found Cyclops before he did. He would have made such a fine lieutenant for the cause. "I believe that is why you are here and why you brought your new friends. It is a shame to see that Charles is still at the beck and call of government that would just as soon as turn on him as soon as it is convenient."

"You're one to talk," Jean snapped. "Professor Xavier showed you a future where the war you wanted brought humanity to the brink of extinction and you tried to force it anyway. You betrayed your own people! You still haven't learned your lesson."

Scott said, "Your actions against the American government might spark a war with Genosha! That's what you want isn't it? You want a war to start with Genosha than use this new battle fortress of yours to launch a full scale attack on America and bring in your new era of mutant supremacy."

"You're wrong!" Colossus blurted out. All eyes were on him. "We aren't trying to start a war."

"You can't possibly believe that?" Scott asked in disbelief. "Colossus, you know how Magneto is. You've seen how far he'll go to start a war between humans and mutants."

"This is different," Piotr claimed. "This isn't about war. This about finally giving mutants peace they rightful deserve."

Scott couldn't believe that Colossus of all people would buy into Magneto's pitch.

"It does look suspicious," Hank stated. "Nuclear missiles and this battle fortress do appear as if you are preparing for war."

"Colossus is right. This is not about starting a war," Magneto insisted. "This battle fortress as you have called it Beast is anything, but that. This is the future of all mutant kind. It will deliver all of us freedom from the human race in a way that will appeal to both humans and mutants. This will be our colony, away from the human race. X-Men and Pietro I welcome you to Asteroid M."

* * *

**The Acolytes line up for this story is sort of mix of various different ones from different forms of media, both comics and cartoons. I know it seems weird to have Sabertooth a part of the line up without having Wolverine in the story, but I thought it would fit for the story. I tried to stay true the spirit of Sabertooth's character though. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Since it's been a year since my last update I'm going to give a brief summary of what happened in the last chapter. The X-Men and Quicksilver gave themselves up to Magneto's Acolytes, while the Avengers and Scarlet Witch sneak into their base. The X-Men and Quicksilver are taken to Magneto who reveals that they are in Asteroid M, a colony for the mutant race.**

**Acolytes are made up of, Cortez, Pyro, Colossus, Sabertooth, Mellencamp, and Delgado.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or X-Men characters. They all belong to Marvel.**

* * *

"Asteroid M," repeated Pietro. It was all he could do not to snort. What was his father thinking? He knew the man had a flare for dramatics, but surely the master of magnetism could come up with a better name than Asteroid M. He only hoped that the M stood for mutant and not Magneto. Pietro wanted to believe even his father wasn't that ego centric.

Scott didn't know if he was stunned by Magneto's claims that his fortress would be a colony for the mutant race or that Colossus was buying into it. Actions always spoke louder than words. All he saw was another weapon to be used against people. It would be no different than Genosha was. It was another extreme action taken against the human race. It would serve to create more conflict not solve it. Magneto might have been blind to that fact, but how could Colossus be? He was one of the most peaceful men Scott had ever met. He knew war when he saw it or he did before Magneto got his hands on him.

"Let me guess you are just going to whisk us all away on this colony of yours." Cyclops glared behind his visor. He never saw eye to eye with Magneto, but he did at one point respect the man. Their methods were different, but they both believed strongly in a world where mutants could live in peace. True, Magneto's methods were usually more extreme and harmed the innocent along with guilty, but he always had the mutant race's best interest in mind at least or so Scott thought. The respect he held for Magneto morphed into disgust when he saw the depths Magneto would sink to in order to achieve his goals.

The staged Sentinel attack against the people of Genosha, his own people, to provoke them into going to war was despicable. Professor Xavier had forgiven his old friend, but Scott would never forget. In the end Magneto showed his true colors. He was a monster who would sacrifice any of them if it meant he could get his revenge on the world. He didn't believe Magneto could ever redeem himself. "Isn't this how it started with Genosha? You offered mutant kind a place where they can live out in the open. You gave them a paradise and how did it end again?"

The master of magnetism's smile fell. Evidently there was enough of the man left inside the monster to feel shame for his sins. It wasn't enough to expunge Scott's anger. Images of the innocent mutants who were injured in the staged attack spurred him on. "You betrayed them. The war had been averted. Both humans and mutants were talking about peace when you went behind everyone's backs. You used the Sentinels to attack your people! How many people died in that attack? How many people paid the price for the greater cause?" he sneered.

Beast and Quicksilver were surprised at the X-leader's raising anger. Concern for his friend set in for Beast, but a strange sense of admiration for his one-time rival flowed within Quicksilver. Jean was not surprised. She knew Scott better than anyone. He prided himself on controlling his emotions. He was always the level headed leader that they needed him to be, but he felt more than most men would ever feel. On the dark day on Genosha she sensed all the emotional turmoil that overwhelmed him to the point where his spirit nearly broke. The destruction, the motionless bodies, the senselessness of it all ripped Scott's heart asunder. His grief and pain in that instant was so overpowering that it smothered her emotions. She was almost paralyzed by it. Yet Scott buried it all down. He buried it to the lowest depths of his soul and forced himself to go on. It disturbed her greatly at how he could force his feelings down like that. It was a cold reminder that Scott Summers wasn't the unflappable leader he portrayed himself as to the team, but just man with a very big heart. Big hearts were very vulnerable.

Now that he was confronted by the man who was responsible for the madness of that dark day it should have been no surprised to sense his anger erupt. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but Jean was surprised none the less. It gave a chill down her spine to see the man she loved tethering so close to edge, so close to being consumed by flames of his rage. She prayed he never fell in it.

"How exactly is this different from last time?" Scott challenged. "How many more people are going to pay for your actions?"

Cortez scowled at the X-Man. "You dare to speak to the Great Magneto with such insolence!" Cortez fell into a frenzy of his own. "You would condemn his actions, while you serve that fool Xavier! What has Charles Xavier done, but made you all dogs to the under evolved primates!?"

"Cortez," Piotr growled warningly. He still held the Professor Xavier in high regard. Just because his ideals diverged from his old mentor did not mean he lost any of his respect. Charles Xavier had been beacon to people who desperately needed a light. He was a father to many who were fatherless. When the world threatened to crush them he helped them shoulder the burden. When they had nothing to live for he gave them a reason. He gave them hope. Piotr would not tolerate anyone who trampled over that as if it were meaningless.

Cortez looked at him darkly. Piotr was reminded more of a rabid dog than a man. "You realize how Xavier's vision is misguided yourself haven't you Colossus. That is why you are here with us or have you forgotten who you have pledged your allegiance to?"

"Do not misconstrue my intentions," Piotr shot back. "I have nothing, but respect for Professor Xavier. He is a great man." He heard a snort come from behind.

"I told ya he was still an X-Man," Sabertooth stated all too smugly.

Pyro frowned. "Don't tell me you're still soft on the X-Men." He expected to hear Colossus deny the accusation, but it never came. The former X-Man stared him down as if to dare him to ridicule him for his beliefs. When Pyro looked into his eyes he saw something fierce and primal there staring back at him. It made his blood chill.

Cortez wasn't intimidated by the metallic mutant. He looked at him as if he was the most loathsome creature he had ever laid eyes on. It was difficult to distinguish if Magneto's new number two held more contempt or disgust for Colossus. Through their shared gazes they exposed their raw hatred for each other. Before Cortez could cut him down the room was silenced by one word. "Good."

Attention shifted from Piotr to Magneto instead. Piotr's glare remained on Cortez and Cortez returned the favor. "Charles Xavier is one of the most gifted men I have ever had the pleasure to work with. He has dedicated his life to mutant kind and has done more than anyone else has for mutants. I have nothing, but respect for Charles despite our differences. I do not begrudge Colossus simply because he still respects Charles Xavier." Cortez lips trembled as if to object, but said nothing. Whatever objections Cortez had for the Professor Xavier his fear of Magneto chained them down.

Magneto turned to Cyclops. He recognized the hatred Charles' surrogate son possessed. He recognized it well enough. Cyclops was Charles' son in every way, but the rage festering inside of him was not of Charles. Ironically the hate connected the X-leader to him. In Cyclops' eyes Magneto was the monster who would lead them all to ruin in the name of peace, not the humans. In a rare moment of clarity he could not justify his actions. "I know what you must think of me." He knew because he had similar thoughts of the monsters that had rounded his people up and sentenced them to death in those chambers. "I have committed many atrocities, killed many people. I have been cruel and uncompromising." The way his children had looked upon him with shame and anger was forever etched into his soul. "I've allowed myself to become the very monster that I always despised. I attacked my own people in my zealous to start a war I saw was inevitable without realizing I was thrusting it upon us."

That was the simple truth of it all. He sacrificed the people he had liberated and promised to protect with his life for his own ambition. He lost perspective and nearly burned everything he achieved on Genosha down. He treated his people as pawns to an end. How did that make him any better than the old slavers of Genosha? "Genosha was meant to be a paradise for all mutants. I failed to do that. The people I sacrificed in the name of a greater good were inexcusable. 107 causalities, 48 wounded, 59 deaths, those were the people I deemed expendable for my cause. I will never forget those numbers because to do so is to say those lives had no meaning. Every mutant life has meaning."

There was more of the man left than Scott had thought. This wasn't some rehearsed speech Magneto had given. No, it was much more than that. The words were sincere. The regret was so real it hurt to hear it. That day had left its scar on Magneto just as it had everyone else. However, feeling remorse didn't change the fact he had done it. He certainly hadn't changed much. He slaughtered all people in that military base not even 24 hours ago.

"Asteroid M is to be my atonement. It will not be made into an instrument of war unlike what I did with Genosha. It shall be our ark. Just as the biblical ark protected and delivered Noah and his family to a new era for mankind Asteroid M shall protect us and deliver mutants into our new era." He could see it. It was so vivid how could he not see it? A new era of peace for not just mutants, but also the humans, was upon them. He had to get them to see it. He needed to make them understand that he was different. The rage and hate were behind him now. He could be what he always envisioned himself as, a true savior to his people.

"We mutants will thrive in this era of peace and prosperity away from mankind. They feared us, but they will no longer have to fear us. Let the humans have the Earth and we shall have the stars. The two races shall be separated. We shall keep to ourselves, out of their affairs so long as they stay out of ours. No longer will we have to struggle just to survive. We will no longer have to lose the people we love to bigotry. Our children will never again have to hide or fear for their lives."

He looked at Cyclops in the eye. "Imagine a world where your children will have peace that you have never known. Isn't that a world that you would want them to grow up in?" Magneto set his gaze on Jean. "Imagine a world where you do not have to continue to fight, but could live as normal people and raise a family of your own."

Jean thought she was the one who read minds. She and Scott had talked about raising a family together when talking about their hypothetical future. A fear they had shared was bringing children into a world that feared and hated mutants with such ferocity. Magneto was tugging on heartstrings. If she didn't know any better she would be tempted to hear him out. Fortunately Jean did know better. "You just want us all to leave and go into space to live away from normal humans. Separate, but equal, is that the future you want for our children?"

"It is better than the alternative," Magneto shot back. "Compromises have to be made of course. As you said Charles showed us a future where war nearly destroyed both sides. Fighting for the Earth is a fruitless endeavor it would seem."

"At least the type of fighting you have in mind," Jean retorted. Her comment earned Magneto's ire. "We can fight the right way. We can still prove to everyone that we deserve their respect."

"Xavier's ideology," grumbled Cortez.

"Charles' way hasn't worked. I have tried to do things his way, but it hasn't worked. It will not work."

"Yes it can," Cyclops said, without hesitation. "It will take time, but it can work. Even you have to admit things are a lot better than they were a decade ago."

"It's not enough," Piotr spat, bitterly. A cruel smirk formed on Cortez's lips, approving of Colossus' response. His former teammates were surprised and alarmed to hear such bitterness from him. Jean's concerned gaze was so overwhelming that Piotr couldn't stand to look at her. The last thing he needed was pity.

Magneto continued, "Colossus is right. Several decades have passed, yet hostilities between humans and mutants are still strong. There have been almost countless casualties as it is. How many more people will have to suffer just for Charles' dream of co-existence becomes reality? Who is to ever say that will come to pass? Don't you see? Asteroid M is the best solution to make peace for mutants a reality."

* * *

Steve carefully peeked around the corner. He wanted to make sure not to set off any alarms or catch the eye of any guards that might be out and about. In order to do that he needed to be quick. Steve's enhanced biology allowed him to do just that. The captain's scan of the corridor unveiled no signs of cameras, sensors, or guards. Although, experience had taught him that looks could be deceiving.

He crouched low to the ground and made a dash with his shield in hand. The captain reached the end of the corridor in a flash. Finding nothing amiss Steve signaled for his team to come. Scarlet Witch and Vision came first. They were followed by Hawkeye who was watching their backs to ensure they weren't caught on aware. "So far, so good," the archer commented.

They hadn't run into any obstacle since they left the hanger. Captain America favored caution and had the group travel in stealth. They had no knowledge of the vessel or the number of enemies it carried. One wrong move and they could be history. The rest of his team agreed with his assessment. Their pace was slow and as a result Cyclops and the others had gotten so far ahead that the captain had no illusions of still being able to follow them. That sacrifice had to be made for the safety of the group and to make sure the mission could succeed. He was confident in his decision when they started, but after passing empty corridor after empty corridor Steve was starting to feel as if his caution was unnecessary.

Jean had used her telepathy to broadcast what she saw. Steve was starting to come around to telepathy. It proved to be quite useful in infiltration. The Avengers and Scarlet Witch were easily able to track their allies even with delay that his caution had created. "Everything is quiet," Steve said solemnly. He stayed on alert.

Clint could tell the old man wasn't going to change his mind about using stealth methods any time soon. He couldn't blame him. It was a pain in the ass, but Clint recognized the need for slow and steady over swiftness. How many times had he seen a quiet mission go to hell in a blink of an eye? His time with Natasha taught him to value this type of work. She was just as cautious as the old man. "I guess we should be happy Magneto hasn't found us yet." He turned to Vision. "Remember what I said about never saying anything is easy." Hawkeye flashed a crooked smile. "Let's not jinx ourselves."

Vision did not need Hawkeye to remind him of that particular lesson. The memory of a mind controlled Thor appearing before Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and he after he uttered those words was categorized as a very important. Jinxes and luck were usual associated with human irrationality over actual logic, yet they were also rooted in human instincts that made Vision consider the merit. "Do not worry. I do not wish to jinx us either."

"Something tells me there is a story here," Scarlet Witch mused.

"You'd be right there," Clint retorted smartly. "Just to give you the footnotes it involved mind control, a very angry thunder god, and us almost biting the big one."

She wondered if Hawkeye knew the footnotes of that adventure sounded as absurd as they did. Perhaps he did and he took some juvenile amusement in trying to fluster her. "You Avengers do seem to live an adventurous life to say nothing else." Thinking about it she was hardly one to talk. As a former member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and the ruler of a whole nation Wanda lived quite an adventurous life herself. Hawkeye's tale did sound wilder than any of hers. Part of her was intrigued about that. "We are going to need a battle plan against Magneto. This ship is designed similarly to his metal citadel back in Genosha. That means he can use the metal used to construct the ship as a weapon without compromising the structure."

Captain America's expression hadn't changed. He had come to that same conclusion as she did. The young ruler should have expected the man some described as the greatest soldier in history would have noticed the environment and considered how it played into the enemy's advantage. In addition to Magneto having this entire battle fortress as his weapon there were also the metallic weapons that the Avengers used, such Captain America's legendary shield and Vision's whole body. Heading straight into a confrontation with Magneto and his followers would put them at a major disadvantage. "We have to find a way to separate Magneto from his followers. If we focus on taking them out first then we can all concentrate on him," Wanda urged.

Vision was the first one to come to her support. "Scarlet Witch's reasoning is sound. We originally intended to employ a surprise attack to catch our foes off guard, but even considering that fact there is still high probability that advantage will be rendered negligible."

"That's easier said than done," Hawkeye scoffed. "How do you suggest we get your father away from his fanatical worshippers?" His tone was challenging, although Wanda was unsure if he frustrated with her or their situation. "We're only going to get one shot at this. After that we lose the element of surprise. You better be sure the moment he suspects something is up he is going to be on guard," he warned.

"That is exactly why we need to separate them," she defended. "Our best chance of winning is taking down the others so we can hit Magneto with everything we have."

"That would be a great plan your highness if we knew how lure Magneto away from the others. The only reason we aren't lost on this ship now is because of Jean's telepathy. We're in no position to try to start trouble to lure the Brotherhood or Magneto out," Clint argued.

Wanda didn't know what vexed her more the blatant condescension or how dismissive Hawkeye was being toward her thoughts. He had no experience with Magneto at all. Of the four of them she had the most knowledge concerning Magneto. She worked with him in one of his earliest incarnations of the Brotherhood of Mutants. She was his daughter for the love of god! Where did he get off treating her as if she was some amateur? She may not have been some world saving Avenger, but she was far from ignorant of battle. The man was full of himself. She was going to tell him so, until the captain spoke up.

"What do you think is the best way to lead Magneto away from his team or visa-versa?" he asked her.

Unlike Hawkeye, who despite asking the same question, she couldn't detect any condescension or underlining frustration from him. The living legend was earnest and sought her counsel on the matter. Arrogance wasn't a common trait among all the Avengers to her immense relief. "This ship is important to his plans." Immediately she regretted stating the obvious. The captain wasn't holding it against her and was attentive, encouraging her to go on. "If we were to put it in danger or even disable part of it Magneto would either send people to check it out or go himself. He is already expecting us from what Jean told us."

"He would more than likely act immediately to protect the ship," Vision suggested. Her lips curved upward. She liked him more and more. He returned the gesture much to her surprise. There was more to Vision than what her brother assumed.

"Correct, Vision. In the long run it might work better for us. We were intending on bringing this monstrosity down anyway. If we can inflict any substantial damage we should do it."

"Again, how do we do that?" Clint challenged. "We don't know the layout of the place to deal the kind of damage you're talking about."

"We don't," agreed Steve. "…but maybe we could." The trio stared at him, pondering his cryptic meaning.

* * *

It took Pietro everything he had not to gag. His father was laying it on very thick. Magneto talked a good game. He was a master at crafting words. Pietro would give his father that much, but for all his talk of change and turning over a new leaf, this speech of his was close to the same sells pitch he had when he liberated Genosha. As always Magneto was a living contradiction. Pietro was getting sick of listening to his voice. "Skipping over the part where you decided to make Genosha 2.0, which if you are honest with yourself that's all Asteroid M is, none of anything you said explains why you need nuclear weapons. This goes back to Beast's point on this looking a lot like you're getting ready for war."

Pietro's lips curled into a disheartening smirk. "Why don't you stop trying to sell us on your mission of peace and get to the part where you explain why you need nukes?" He looked his father right in the eye, challenging him. Insolence was something Magneto loathed to suffer. Of course that was why Pietro made sure to give him nothing, but it. To his old man's credit annoyance only flashed on his face more a millisecond before a begrudging grin emerged.

"I forgot how much you enjoy provoking others," Magneto replied.

Quicksilver shrugged his shoulders. "It is entertaining from time to time. I have to do something to kill time you know." His eyes darted across the room, observing all of his father's followers. "It doesn't change the fact that it is a valid question. You've always had a silver tongue and getting an X-Man to follow you and believe you aren't marching to war is pretty impressive. How do you pull the wool over his eyes?"

"I am not deceiving anyone, Pietro," the master of magnetism said. "What will it take to convince you?"

Beast responded in place of his son. "I believe a good place to start building a bridge of trust is to tell us why you attacked a military facility and stole the missiles."

"Why you killed everyone at the base," Cyclops added.

"Are you that naïve?" The lizard mutant known as Mellencamp asked, indignantly. "Do you really believe that the humans would just allow us to launch Asteroid M without any questions? You have mistaken this for a battle fortress yourselves. The humans would blow us out of orbit as soon as we left the Earth making the same mistake as you."

"The missiles are just a bit of insurance," Pyro supplied. "If we have nukes ready to rain down upon the world than everyone is a lot less eager to attack us. It would be fun to see them try it though." Pyro smirked.

Piotr furrowed his brow at the flame manipulator. Pyro really did find pleasure in burning his victims. The man made that abundantly clear with that twisted gleam in his eye he got when he was described the unfortunate souls they had killed during the attack on the military base. However, they were talking about using nuclear missiles on people for God's sake! The level of destruction they could unleash with that was immeasurable and too terrible to just joke about. "Let us hope it does not come to that, Pyro," scolded Magneto. Indeed his features made him appear to be a disapproving father condemning his child for his actions. "The missiles are only to be a deterrent not a solution."

Pyro recoiled just like a child who was reprimanded by a parent would. Piotr silently basked in this. His new teammates and their actions made him question his place among them or their mission, but Magneto always renewed his faith. With him leading he was reassured that the Acolytes were more than ruthless murderers. Not everyone was satisfied with Magneto's response. He tried to hide it by slinking behind their leader, but the resentment festering inside of Cortez might as well have been wearing a giant neon sign. The hatred he carried for the human race was no secret, but the way he wore it so boldly frightened the former X-Man. Ironically enough Cortez shared the sentiments as his old teammates on the subject of Magneto's response.

Anger and fear contaminated Hank's face. These emotions highlighted the savagery his codename implied. "That does not explain nor does it excuse taking the lives of innocent men and women. It has almost certainly guaranteed hostile action will be taken for this."

"Aren't you the hostile action being taken," Sabertooth remarked. The wit laced within the words was unmistakable to anyone.

"That was a show of strength," Magneto defended. His expression hardened. "We needed to show them how cruel we could be to make them rethink any regrettable action they may want to take in the future."

"Now there is the Magneto we all know and love." Quicksilver could not resist throwing the barb. "He talks about mutant prosperity, but really wants march us all to war."

"It is not war," his father nearly shouted. "I am not marching us into war unless I absolutely have to. We cannot afford to be seen as weak or Asteroid M will not succeed." Couldn't they see the truth? They couldn't just launch Asteroid M and expect the rest of the world to just leave them alone. The cold harsh reality was that teeth were needed to keep beasts at bay. "Unless we make ourselves a legitimate world power the world will not acknowledge us. The terrible truth is more often than not is that fear is what makes people acknowledge."

Fear was easy to acknowledge. Hank could not deny that, but acknowledgement was not the only thing fear inspired. Hysteria, irrationality, aggressiveness, and plain old stupidity were also inspired by fear. They caused many people to act impulsively. "That very fear you seek to inspire could have dire repercussions. The world will acknowledge Asteroid M as a threat and incite war not avert it. You must see that."

"It will not come to that." Magneto sounded unsure himself. He knew his actions were aggressive and would ruffle feathers, but it was necessary. "Once Asteroid M launches we will open channels with the rest of the world and make every effort to assuage their fears of unprovoked aggression. We will offer them an olive branch. The rest will be up to them."

Cortez spoke next. "History will know that we offered peace. If war should start history will see that it was the humans' own fault. What happens next will be entirely up to them. You shouldn't worry about that. After all Xavier preaches that a bridge can be made, unless he is wrong than the humans should accept our terms and seek out peace."

The way his lips curled up into that all too self-satisfied smirk made Scott want to punch his face in. "Your terms? Giving the world an ultimatum is going to win you a lot of friends."

Pietro chuckled to himself. Summers could actually be funny intentionally. Who would have known? "For once I'm in agreement with you, Summers. That scares me a little," he joked. Summers' lips actually twisted into a small smile.

"The rest of the world is hardly in a position to judge us," Mellencamp jumped in. "What great nation wasn't founded on war? Genosha only became great because the old government enslaved mutants and used us as a resource. The rest of the world did nothing. Why should we be forced to bow down to their hypocritical objections?"

Quicksilver glared at the lizard mutant. "Except Wanda was making it work without terrorizing people. She made Genosha work and repaired all the bridges Magneto burned when he was ruler. We're trading with other countries. All you idiots are doing is scaring them and making things worse for all of us." He cast his glare at his father. "I saw her work hard to make Genosha work, make it a real free nation for mutants. She was making it work. The U.S. made peace with us. The world was leaving us alone, because we left them alone. Now all of that is going in the toilet because you once again had to do things your own way," he sneered. "You made us look guilty by association. Blowing up our communication's tower keeps us from even talking to anyone outside of Genosha. It makes it look we have something to do this."

A bitter laugh escaped his mouth. Pietro shook his head in disbelief. "I can't tell if you didn't think that would happen or if you were trying to frame us so we would have to work with you to save Genosha. You want me to trust you. How the hell can I trust someone who always scheming and planning against everyone, including your own children?" He would never change. Wanda was right. This man could offer them nothing, but death and ruin. "You burn everything you touch no matter what your intentions are. You don't offer salvation. You offer death and that's all you can offer."

He had never been as close to Pietro as he was with Wanda or Lorna, but it still pained him to hear his son say he had nothing to offer him except death. Their relationship was turbulent more than he would have liked it to be, but he loved Pietro. The moment he learned that the twins were Magda's last gift to him he vowed to protect them with his life. Learning about his children only strengthened his conviction to make the world safe for mutants. Magneto had made many enemies and became hated, but he never expected nor wanted to be hated by his own flesh and blood. "Pietro." His voice couldn't help, but sound so broken.

The last vestiges of patience residing inside Sabertooth finally vanished. He would never have taken this job if he knew he would have to endure this mind numbing chatter. It was getting them nowhere and it was pissing him off. "You've answered enough of their questions, Magneto. It's about time they start answering ours." At least he got the self-righteous geezer out of his stupor.

"Sabertooth's disrespectful tone aside he does make a valid point," Mellencamp agreed. The savage mutant bared his teeth into what he guessed was either an attempt of sarcasm or an actual intimidation tactic. "We must learn the whereabouts of the Avengers."

He couldn't forget the Avengers. The self-proclaimed heroes could unravel all his carefully laid plans. He followed their exploits not long after their formation in anticipation for an eventually encounter with them in the future. Today that future was upon him now. He had to confess to himself that he never imagined that Wanda of all people would be with them. With her powers the heroes could prove very bothersome. The one saving grace he received was that only fraction of the Avengers actually came to Genosha.

"I don't imagine that any of you would tell us where your new allies are?" Magneto didn't expect them to give him an answer. The X-Men never made it easy for him in the past. Why would they start now? The troubling part was when none of them replied as he guessed was that a misbegotten sense of relief pulsed through him. No matter all the fights that came between him and Charles the master of magnetism was proud at how much conviction his old friend's students held toward his dream. However, it did make things more difficult on him. He would require the same devotion to his convictions to carry out his dream.

"I wish I could say I am surprised, but we all know that would be a lie," Magneto stated. His captives remained silent. He exhaled his grief and frustrations in a tired breath. "We're going to have to do this the hard way." He turned toward Sabertooth. He could barely tolerate the brute. Sabertooth was little better than an animal. Killing was his sport; the cause didn't matter to him so long as he saw blood. He was perfect for a war, but not for the dream of a mutant utopia. Magneto was a realist. War could still come, hence why he recruited Sabertooth. Loathsome as it was he required the man's vile skillset. "It would seem your services are required," he told Sabertooth.

The cruel bloodlust smile was visible for not only Magneto, but all of them to see. Colossus was outraged at this development (hardly surprising), but Magneto stifled objections before he could voice them. "I'm sorry, but without a telepath in our number at the moment we have to resort to more unsavory methods." His words did nothing to sooth his new Acolyte, yet they had the intended effect off keeping him from interfering.

"Unsavory," Sabertooth chuckled darkly. "That suits me just fine." He bore his claws. His eyes radiated with bloodlust so intense that it could almost kill by sight alone. "I do enjoy my work. It ain't pretty, but I love it." He eyed his victims, making sure to give each of them a long stare to feed their fears. Unlike his usual victims he didn't pick up the usual scent of fear. That delighted him more. If they had no fear then he could put it into them and have fun doing it. He had just the person in mind.

Sabertooth set his sights on a certain red haired psychic. Naturally this did not go unnoticed by Xavier's golden boy. He could smell anger laced with fear. If he played his cards right he could kill two birds with one stone. "I do want to hear you scream. I tearing through your flesh should give me that and some answers. I got to wonder how long you'll last Red."

"I told you not to touch her!" exclaimed Cyclops. He commanded his body to charge only to discover it would not obey him. His legs were encased in metal. When did Magneto do that?

"I'll take care of you later pretty boy." Sabertooth smirked at Cyclops, while the man struggled against his metal restraints. The room echoed with cries from Cyclops, Beast, and Quicksilver as they each tried to fight against Magneto's magnetism and failed miserably. "You're popular," he told Jean. "Going after you was the right call. I may not even have to scratch your pretty little face before those goodie-goodies start spilling their guts out. I do prefer if I at least get to sink my claws in you before they do."

The woman stood her ground and stared up at him unflinchingly. It wasn't an act. Fear hadn't coated her scent yet. Her bravery impressed Sabertooth. How long would she keep up the brave front once the fun started? "I'll give you one chance. After all it's only fair. Red, tell me where the Avengers?"

A fire sparked in her emerald eyes. The woman's lips curved into a conceited smirk that put Sabertooth's to shame. "Right here," she uttered clear and loud. As if to emphasize her response an alarm blared and threatened to deafen everyone who could hear it.

"One of the engines is offline!" shouted Mellencamp, who had reached the control panels. "Another one is going offline! The remaining ones are trying to compensate, but we're losing altitude!"

"The colony shouldn't go down from losing only two engines!" Cortez proclaimed.

"We aren't going to fall out of the sky, but until the remaining engines stabilize and compensate we're going to drift down a bit," Mellencamp replied. Thankfully the engines were already working to right themselves. Just when the lizard mutant thought the worse was over a new reading started going off. This one was even worse than the last one. "The power cells are going out!"

The implications were not lost on any of them. There were many engines. Losing one or two could be bothersome, but Asteroid M could go on without them. The power cells were an entirely different matter. If they were damaged or destroyed everything from, cloaking to engines were dead. There would be nothing stopping them from crashing back to the Earth. "Shut off the alarm!" Magneto ordered. The alarm was pointless now that they were aware of the problems occurring.

The alarm was silenced at once. Now they could at least think. "The Avengers are doing this," Pyro declared. Magneto and Cortez were unamused by Pyro's statement of the obvious.

Cortez exclaimed, "Idiot! Of course it is them!"

"How could they know where the engines or power cells are?" Delgado, the giant of a man, finally spoke up.

Delgado may not have provided any solutions, but unlike Pyro he was thinking. Asteroid M was massive, too massive for the Avengers' limited numbers to have navigated through so quickly. These strikes were precise and timed to have been anything beyond a coincidence. They had to know exactly where they needed to be. Magneto stared awestruck at Jean Grey. That would explain everything. She read his Acolytes' unsuspecting minds, retrieving all the information she needed and feed it to her allies.

This could have very well been their plan from the start. With the helmet protecting his mind from a telepathic invasion Magneto gave little thought to his followers' protection. "Clever, Ms. Grey."

"I try," she jested.

"Bitch!" growled Sabertooth.

"There is no time for that," Magneto scolded. "If the power cells are destroyed than we will plummet!" Reason kept Sabertooth at bay for now. "Mellencamp, you will lead Pyro and Delgado to where the closest engines from the second one that was damaged. These are both coordinated and simultaneous attacks. In order for them to do this means they had to have split up. If they are smart they are divided into two teams based on the information we have of their small numbers. One team is going after the engines, while the second one is attacking the power cells."

"It will be done." Mellencamp gathered his two newly appointed charges. They raced to their engines.

Cortez beseeched his master. "Allow me to lead a team to defend the power cells. I promise you that I will bring the invaders to justice and protect our future."

"No," Magneto dismissed. "Cortez, I will leave you in command of the bridge. Watch our prisoners, but do not harm them unless absolutely necessary." Wanda was always protective of her brother. It would do none of them any good if she found Pietro in distress.

"As you command, Great Magneto," he complied obediently. "May I ask why you are leaving me in command of the bridge, while you are here?"

"I would have thought that was obvious. I intend to defend the power cells myself." The power cells were too precious to put at risk. His abilities were the only ones that could be used to defend them without threatening to damage them. "I will go alone." He left no room for argument or protest. Cortez had enough sense not to question him. Magneto levitated off the ground. They would not destroy his dream. This was their salvation. Heaven help whoever dared to try to undo that for they would suffer his wrath. He flew off like a rocket with neither care nor thought to what he left in his wake. Only one thing mattered. Magneto would protect it with his life.

Once Magneto was out of sight Sabertooth was consumed with a thirst for revenge. He returned his attention to Red. Her pretty little face was so full of conceit. That pretty little smile mocked him. He didn't like to be mocked. "I think I'm going rip those lips right off ya. It's going to be hard to keep smirking then don't you think, Red?"

"You can't! Magneto ordered us not to harm the prisoners unless it was necessary," Piotr reminded.

"Colossus is right of course," Cortez supported, less than enthusiastic about it.

"You think I give a damn?" Sabertooth sneered. He scowled at the woman. "She played us. The little bitch is standing here laughing it up at how smart she is. I don't know about you, but that kind of pisses me off." Red continued to smirk at him. Her smirk became more conceited if that was possible. "It's only a problem if was unnecessary. As long as she's conscious she can keep giving her friends every bit of info we all know. I bet even now she's already told them we're coming from them."

Piotr hadn't considered that. A sideway glance at Cortez let him know that he hadn't either. "Magneto hadn't considered that," Cortez said aloud. "It would be tactically unsound for us to ignore Jean Grey's telepathic power and the advantage it gives our enemies." A vindictive half grin played on his lips. "I'm sure our leader will understand why we had to incapacitate her." He had all, but given Sabertooth permission to inflict harm on Jean.

"No….We should confer with Magneto before we do anything," Piotr suggested helplessly. Cortez shot a disapproving look at him. He knew he would find no help in Cortez.

"Magneto left me in command, because he trusts my judgement. It is about time you learn to trust it as well." Colossus worried him. Despite joining Magneto he still clung to Xavier's teachings. This could serve as a test of loyalty. They would see if he was an X-Man or an Acolyte. "You don't have any personal objections do you? We all witnessed how dangerous she is. If you are truly one of Magneto's Acolytes you must understand."

God help him. Piotr was stuck. He couldn't think of anything to argue against Cortez and Sabertooth's reasoning. Jean's telepathy was a threat. If he objected further it would be as good as saying he was traitor to Cortez. Both he and Sabertooth viewed him as an X-Man as it was. If he moved against them he would prove them right. He had to allow them to neutralize Jean, but this was Jean! She was caring and loving. He had so many memories of her warm smiles and encouraging peep talks in the mansion. How could he even think to let Cortez or Sabertooth lay a finger on her? The whole reason joined Magneto was to stop innocent blood from being shed.

"No further objections I take it," Cortez said in a warning tone. If he cracked he was a traitor. If he didn't then this would be a lesson on what was required of him. Better Colossus harden his heart now. He nodded in approval to Sabertooth, who was nothing, but gleeful.

"Tough luck, Red." He raised his claws to her. "I'll rip that smile off your face the hard way."

"I don't think so," Jean stated. "Cyclops, now!"

A beam of redness bombarded the savage mutant. Sabertooth was thrown off his feet and sent hurling into the nearest wall several feet away. Cyclops rounded his deadly gaze at Cortez and Colossus. Both men scrambled away. "How can he fire without his hands?" Cortez shouted at Colossus.

"Jean must have removed his visor with her telekinesis." Piotr morphed into his metal form then took the optic blast head on. He shielded himself behind his massive metal arms, but the sheer force was powerful enough to push him back. Without his visor restraining him Cyclops' full optic blast was too much for Piotr. He couldn't repel it. Soon his back was up against a wall. He wasn't the only one at a disadvantage. He couldn't repel the blast, but his metal form prevented Cyclops from knocking him unconscious. They were at a stalemate, yet this freed his teammates. Sabertooth's healing factor activated and the savage mutant recovered speedily.

Enraged Sabertooth charged at Cyclops in a blind rage. Before he could reach his target he felt himself being pulled upward by an invisible force. He exerted all his strength, but Sabertooth found he could not escape. Jean's psychic hold on him was secure. That left Cortez to attend to. The man had retrieved a blaster from somewhere. He was taking aim at her. "Enough!" cried Cortez. If he pulled that trigger she couldn't react fast enough to stop him. Anxiety started to flood her when a discharge of red energy flung Cortez off his feet. Her first thought was that Scott had saved her, but the blast was different from his. It looked more like one of Scarlet Witch's hexes!

Wanda made a glorious entrance befitting her regal title. The Scarlet Witch did not rest on her laurels and hurled one of her hexes at the entrapped mutants. The makeshift metal restraints were blown off. "About time you showed up," Quicksilver said playfully.

His twin sister rolled her eyes in return. "Oh please," she muttered.

The speedster held up his cuffed hands. "Can you see what you can do about this? They are rigged to explode, so if you can jinx it so they don't." Once more his sister came through. She unlocked all their cuffs without a single one of them exploding.

"They aren't jinxes. They are hexes," Wanda corrected.

It was Pietro's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh please, it is the same thing."

Free to move again Cyclops broke off his assault on Colossus in favor of returning his visors to their proper place to allow for controlled blasts. "Are we glad to see you," Scott said, happily. He watched Jean mentally tossed Sabertooth against the wall.

"I concur with Cyclops," Hank replied, in the same good cheer. "I am surprised by your appearance here, given the attacks on the engines and power cells."

"Captain America divided us into two teams once Jean got the information she needed. He wanted me to go on ahead to free you," she told Beast. "We used Jean as a go between. They waited until I was in position before they started their attack. I was hoping that Magneto would go for the power cells himself and he didn't disappoint."

"The old man kind of lives up to the hype," Pietro quipped.

"Pietro, you need to go to the power cells. Hawkeye is alone. He is a match for Magneto."

"Why would he go for the power cells alone?" Pietro shot his sister a look that screamed what the hell she was thinking.

"He was the only one who didn't have any metal to be used against him," Wanda snapped back at him. "The captain wanted me here to free you so you could back Hawkeye up. Your speed makes it easy to get to him."

"There is one small problem with that. I have no clue where it is!"

"I can guide you," Jean said. Knowledge was pushed through Pietro's mind and rooted itself there. He knew the entire layout of Asteroid M.

"Thanks for the mind upload, Grey." The speedster was carried away in a white and bluish blur.

The Acolytes recovered and fell into formation. The X-Men and Scarlet Witch closed in their ranks and prepared to face them. Cyclops instantly took charge. "Beast, do you think you can take on Colossus?"

"In terms of physical strength I am afraid that Piotr is my superior. I cannot inflict much harm to his impenetrable skin."

Taking Hank's assessment into consideration Scott was already devising a new plan. "Wanda, your hexes are a wild card. You could do some damage to Colossus. If you and Beast work together…"

"I understand," the mutant ruler affirmed.

"Jean, you take out Cortez. We may not know what his mutant power is yet, but your telekinesis and telepathy could allow you to adapt or combat him the best out of all of us." Jean acknowledged him with a nod. "I'll take on Creed. Let's go show them what we can do.

* * *

**The chapter is longer than the other ones, but I at least wanted to start the battles off in this chapter. The next one will be battle chapter with the Avengers, X-Men, and Acolytes. **


End file.
